Christmas is coming!

Well, Christmas is coming fast and everyone is busy, so it makes missionary work slow down a lot. But it has been a fun week. On Monday we rode a ferris wheel in the Christmas market in Aalborg. It had a good view of the city.

On Wednesday Elder Olson was in Fredericia for a leadership meeting so I was with the other Elders for the day. It went well and we even had a lesson over in our area with a new investigator. The downside of that was that the new investigator turned out to be crazy and bought drugs from someone while we were there.

On Friday we had our ward Christmas party. That was great and we even had two investigators come to the party! It took a while for the members to help them feel welcome, but it turned out alright. The best part was the risalamande after dinner. Yum!

On Saturday we helped an old couple move they were some serious hoarders. They had so many things. We were moving things between houses for 6 hours. They had way to much stuff for their new house. I don't think it will fit, but it was a good service project.

Sunday we had fast and testimony meeting and I got up to bare my testimony. I don't have any super great experiences to share this week but I will share with you what I shared with the members here. I know that Jesus Christ is our savior and redeemer. Because of his grace and mercy we can return to our heavenly father after our life on earth. I am so grateful to know that this church is true, and that I can share it with others as a missionary. I have felt God's love and I want others to feel it as well. I love you all and I hope you have seen all of our amazing blessings God has given us this Christmas season.

Have a great week!

Elder Smith

Hey dad.

Sorry my email wasn't that good last week. There was an annoying beeping noise and I couldn't think.

So I think the plans were to do it in the evening my time. I didn't think about church for you guys. I will see what I can figure out. I will do whatever I can to make it in that time. I can't do it at 8:30 because we have to be home at 9:30. We have to skype at member's houses as well so it also depends on them. I really really don't want you to miss church. It sounds like skyping is already just going to be a pain.

Sounds like you had a busy week. I'm glad you will have a set schedule.

It sounds like mom's concert turned out good. I wish I could have heard it. She seemed to really like it. That's not fair that grandma and grandpa can do whatever they want haha. I'm sorry you guys couldn't go to the party.

I'm glad you are doing well with exercise. I could always do better but it is really hard. Losing weight in a bike area is a lie. I just want to eat more. I'm working on it though. You will probably weigh less than me when I get home. Another hard part about it is that it is expensive to eat healthy. Vegatables and fruits cost a lot more than unhealthy stuff. But I'll do better.

Things have been good. I like my companion. We get a long well. I don't feel as close to him as I have my other companions but we do good and we talk a lot. The language has been going pretty good. I can understand a lot. People say it is really good but they said that when I first got here. They are actually surprised when they find out how long we've been here though. I have learned some slang. Sometimes people laugh when we use it but yeah. We haven't done anything super different while contacting. I've been trying to think of ideas. Our teaching pool has been getting smaller. We can't find anyone. We got 0 new investigators this week. But it's coming. We just need to keep looking. My prayers have definitely been better. I have been trying to listen and I feel like I have gotten a lot more guidance. I have  been doing the light the world initiative. It is hard on some things though. We have mostly done it on our own or as a companionship. 

Thanks for everything. I love you lots. Funny you mention the stories of ancestors. Grandma sent me an autobiography about Lauritz Smith in my birthday package so that was cool. Well have a great week!

Love, Elder Smith 

To Mom:

Hi! Things have been good. It's been a fun week. We have had a couple people listen to us.

I like that picture. That's how I feel. Sometimes I just want to ask them for hot chocolate and to let us in.

That's a lot of practice and performing! That guy (Tony Maiello) looks nice. He should join the church.

That lesson sounds really good. I love stuff like that. That is a cool picture. I like your thoughts to go with it.

I haven't had anything super amazing. We showed it to an investigator and she loved it. We gave her the calendar too. It was good. I've been doing all the things, but yeah I haven't had any awesome miracles yet. But they will come. What about you?

So oplysverden means light up the world. The problem is that oplys can also translate to enlighten or inform, so some danes don't like that.

I know that sister Stokholm in Roskilde was going to make a huge Thanksgiving dinner for the missionaries there, but we don't really get very many eating appointments here.

Yeah they used my bike because we didn't have any extra. My foot is stupid. I'm actually going in on Wednesday to get the toenail cut out like I've had done 4 times back home. But at least it will finally be better. I've spent like 30 dollars on medications and had 3 doctor visits so I just want it to go away.

That's okay that I didn't get your package. I had a good birthday. So funny story with the packages. I sent yours this week. But on Monday I got a call from the Elder in the office Elder Buxton. He said that I got a package and the Danish mail people decided to check it because they do that sometimes. They charged me 140 crowns to do the check because they make us pay for it and 60 in taxes for whatever was in it. So that sucks. I'm glad you sent some extra money because I have to pay 30 dollars to get one of my Christmas packages. It's okay though. Anyways I sent yours. I also sent home some letters and stuff that I don't want to carry around with me, but they are under a piece of cardboard. All your stuff is on top.

Was Adam in Italy? I haven't seen any nativity sets really. But If I see one I will keep it in mind. Danes loooove Christmas, but I don't think they really care about the Christ part of it. They just like the worldly things.

I love you lots and lots and lots. I didn't know the Christmas devotional happened which makes me really sad because I didn't get to see it yet. But that is cool. I love you! Have a good week!

Love, Ældste Smith