Knocking, knocking, and more knocking!

Yup, we've had a busy week. I've been having a great time with my new companion Elder Halling. He is funny and easy to get along with. We are going to have a great transfer. Well this week hasn't been overly exciting.

We didn't have a lot of teaching appointments set up for the week so we have been spending a whole lot of time knocking on doors. It gets pretty tiring but we found a ton of new people and got a lot of new numbers. We are in need of new people to teach so we are crossing our fingers that it works out with all of these people.

I don't have much else but I am looking forward to this week because there will be some new changes made to the mission schedule and some other things. We also will see a missionary broadcast that happened this last week. It should be good.

Well I thought I would just share a little thought I had about being diligent. I did a lot of thinking this past week when we were out knocking in the cold and dark and no one really wanted to talk to us. After already knocking for a couple hours you get to a point where you aren't really feeling it any more. We all feel like that every once in a while. I did notice though. After each night it got a little easier and I enjoyed it a little more. I really started realizing why I was doing what I was doing and it made it a lot better. Try to see the good in what you are doing and stay diligent. Sorry I didn't have anything much better to share. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week. 

Love, Ældste Smith 

Hi Mom!

HHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHDDDDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!!!!!!

I think you are pretty awesome as well.
I knew you would have a few more things to say.

Haha I thought I was fluent when I learned those things too. Then you try to say rød grød med fløde.

There are a lot of Elders leaving over the next few transfers so my fingers are crossed that I will be able to train soon. That's my dream.
Violin sounds fun. I'm glad it's mostly good haha. Wow! How did you get 88 people? Do you know all of them? I think I've been healthier, but I'm not sure. You do a lot of stuff. I think your schedule might be more full than mine some days.
Haha what did you do for the swim class? Was it fun? I miss swimming. Especially when we email because the library is connected with a swimming pool that I have to see every time.
Elder Halling is from Grand Rapids Michigan. He is really funny and easy to get along with. He has been in Denmark for a year and a half. Yes, I am in the same appartment. 
That sounds like an okay nursery experience. It's okay that you didn't play with us that much. Kids can play by themselves or with each other just fine, but they can't read to themselves.
That is fun that Adam is playing in UBOC. That probably means you'll get to see him more because he will be there for rehearsals.
I looooooooooooooovvveee you too :)
I remembered your birthday don't worry. I hope you can find a good violin bow (just because you need a better one.)

Have a good week!

Elder Smith

To Dad:

Things are going great with my new companion. We get along great. Always working harder. It is different. He has been out for about a year and a half. I have learned lots from him already. He is a great missionary.

Wow. That does not sound fun with your plane being delayed. I hate it when things are delayed. Do you have to pay for the car rental? That is dumb that they went all the way to Denver out of all the other options. That would be a really long few days.

I'm glad you are enjoying your classes. It sounds like good stuff. It probably keeps you busy when you aren't working.

Holy cow! That is a ton of snow. I wish we had snow here. It has snowed a couple times but the snow doesn't last at all. It just makes me cold on my bike. Yesterday when we rode to the church the whole parking lot was covered in ice and I ate it on my bike. Then we covered it in salt since we were the first ones there. I know how you feel when you say you are ready for spring, but that also probably means more rain. I've been extremely lucky this winter because it has actually been pretty mild.

I haven't seen the broadcast yet. We will this Friday at zone training. I am pretty excited to hear about the new changes. They are pretty big from what I have heard about it. I didn't know president O'Bryant talks in it though. That's cool. And I also think that is cool with the temples. I miss the temple sometimes. It seems like the only place in the world with 100% peace. I hope I get to go sometime soon.

I love you and miss you. I am doing my best to be the best missionary possible. Sometimes things get hard, but just because they are hard is more evidence of how impossible it would be without the Lord. I hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Smith

New Transfer!

Well I hope everyone has had a great week. I have had a lot of fun this week. We got transfer calls on Saturday and Elder Olson is off to Fredericia to be a Zone Leader. Elder Fairbanks got a new companion and my new companion is Elder Halling. I have heard great things about him so I am really excited for this next transfer.

We had splits in Århus earlier this week and that was really fun. I was with Elder Dibble and we went all the way out to this tiny town to do some work. We got held back a bit and we missed our bus home. We went to the stop and the next bus didn't come for over an hour. We started walking to see if there was a closer stop because we didn't have anything else to do. While we were walking we watched our bus drive in front of us and stop at the next stop. It was over 8 minutes late. We sprinted after it but it drove away. We finally found the little train station that could get us home a lot earlier so we made it on time, but that definitely wasn't a very fun time.

Nothing else super exciting happened this week. We had a few lessons and knocked on some doors. Things aren't super crazy but everything is good. 

On Sunday all the missionaries in our ward gave talks. I talked about testimony. The members seemed to be really happy with our talks and they told us how much they loved them. It was hard giving it in Danish, but it went so much better than the first talk I gave in Denmark when I first came.

I thought I would share something from my talk on Sunday. When I was preparing I read the True to the Faith section on Testimony and I recommend reading it. My favorite thing it talked about was that the best way to strengthen our own testimony is to share it with others. I have gained a personal testimony of that on my mission. Before I didn't really seek people out to tell them what I know and believe, but now I have the opportunity to share it every day more than once. I have seen a big change in my testimony because of this and it has definitely grown stronger. Remember how important testimony is and remember that giving it away to others is the best way to build it up.

I love you all and hope you have a great week. Don't get too cold in all the snow! Thanks for all the prayers and support!

Love, Elder Smith

Hi Mom! I am loving my mission and trying my hardest. Being positive is the only way to do anything.

I'm glad you got my letters. Did you like my Danish tips? Time has been flying. But it does go slow sometimes. I still feel like a brand new missionary. Especially since only 5 elders have come to the mission since I have been here so I am one of the youngest.

I like your laughing goal. I think everyone needs a few more laughs. You just have to pretend everything is funny and maybe it will become funny.

That is a good quote. There are so many great examples that came before us. I'm glad to be able to follow their footsteps.

What have you been busy with besides photo sessions? I think it's crazy that Lindsey is getting married already. I bet most of the girls will be when I get home. And I will be bald.

I didn't see the article in the New Era because we get the Liahona but I will look the article up online. Morning prayers are hard. I don't remember a single thing I say in them. I try to remember and pray at another time like after breakfast or while I'm in the shower. I feel like I get more from it rather than trying to form sentences right after I wake up.

You're going swimming? That's crazy! You will probably be faster than me when I get home. I'm a fatty. But anyways I wish you luck. I don't think anyone will think you are dumb. Everyone looks ridiculous when they swim.

That is pretty confident. You and your friends are pretty weird. You always dress up funny and stuff. I guess you can take the comment as a compliment on your confidence, but less on looking normal. That's okay though. You don't have to look normal. :)

Well our tripanionship ended today. It was definitely fun. I have had lots of good companions.

I know it is hard to be a member missionary. I hope I can remember how important it is when I am home.

I love my mom with all my heart. Have a good week!

Love, Elder Smith

Hej Far,

I am doing good. It has been a good week and we have done a lot. You have done so much driving over the past while. I don't know how you have found time for that and running and classes and your calling. You have been busy. Are there any really pretty parts on those drives? I bet your truck is getting a lot of miles. How snowy is it there right now? You should send more pictures. Hope you've had a good time on your trip. I can't believe you've been with the company for 6 years. That's a long time. I'm glad you get to pay for another month I can be here. It's worth it I promise. :) There are going to be a lot of people coming home soon. That's crazy. That is crazy that Bailey is leaving. I will try to do more with members over this next transfer. It is hard because they are really spread out over our area and we don't have a car, but I really want to do more with them. Thanks for being such a great dad. I hope you are happy. Thanks for everything you do for me. I love you.

Love, Elder Smith

Trio

Hey everyone! It's been a good week!

On Tuesday one of the missionaries in Aalborg left for home so his companion joined us. Now Elder Fairbanks is in a "tripanionship" with Elder Olson and I. It has been a blast!

We have been really busy this week but I don't have any super exciting stories. We have met with a few of our new investigators and it seemed to go well with a few of them. 

We have been with members a couple nights this week and the members here are just great!

Sorry I don't have anything too good or any pictures this week but I will share something from church. 

Yesterday church was really great. President O'Bryant and his wife came to our ward on Sunday and spoke in sacrament meeting and their talks were great. We had a great lesson about Jesus Christ in Sunday school that I really enjoyed. My favorite part of church was Priesthood. One of the members taught an awesome lesson about member missionary work. As a missionary I can tell you all that missionary work is nearly impossible without the help of the members. We need the help of the members. We can knock all day every day and we can even find people, but the chances of them receiving the gospel are much lower than if we receive a referral from a member or have a member with us to teach. I would invite you all to do two things. Start thinking of someone who could be interested in hearing about what you believe in. It could be a good friend who respects you and what you love. The second thing is to get to know the missionaries serving near you. They have a lot of members to work with and it might be hard for them to search you out but take a few minutes or a night to get to know them and tell them about that person you have been thinking of. I promise you that your testimony of missionary work will be strengthened and that if you really do these things that miracles will follow. 

I love you all and hope you have an awesome week. Thanks for being you!

Elder Smith

Hi Mom!

Sorry I made you sad. I forgot to tell you all the week before that I had the language test. 

I've never been to Rodizio grill. Flammen is kind of like Tucanos but they don't bring the meat to you. It was pretty expensive but I just bought cheaper food that week.
It's fine biking through crazy weather that's just how it is. Sometimes we just laugh because of how ridiculous it is.
I will let you know how the language test went when I find out. It wasn't scary. It was really easy. It would say something like "Mark is 5 years old". "How old is Mark?" so it wasn't too bad. I am very glad I made it on time.

I've been eating pretty healthy but I eat a lot. That's what gets me the most. We haven't been running a lot because it is so cold, but I have been doing exercise. 

I'm glad you liked the candy. I sent you a letter last week and after I sent it I realized I forgot to shove something in there like I always do. I'm sorry! But it's okay because a letter is on the way. I think I ate like 15 of those chocolate bars over Christmas time.
I do lots of different things in my studies. I like reading talks and scriptures and sometimes I just pick a word or topic and find out all I can about it. It's different every time. We do an hour of personal and an hour of companionship study every day, but President said the schedule will be changing soon so we will find out what it is. I get up at 6:30 in the morning. about 30 minutes of exercise in the morning. We usually eat lunch at home and just tough it out to dinner. It's not so bad. Different food every time. Burritos, pasta, sandwiches. We usually just cook separate meals. It's different with every companion. Elder Lee and I did meals together all the time, Elder Weese and I Did sometimes, but Elder Olson and I never do we just eat different stuff.
Sounds like you are excited for camp. 

I love you tons and tons and tons and tons and tons.

Have a good week!

Love Elder Smith

To Dad:

I should hear about how I did in a few weeks. It was really easy so I'm not super worried. I am really glad I made it on time. 

Eew. Snow isn't that fun. Sometimes I wish it was snowing instead of raining though. I hope our house doesn't cave in before I come home that would be sad.

Just have a fun time on your trip. I think traveling is fun. I like going to different places.

JustServe sounds pretty cool. I haven't heard of it before though. We hardly ever have service opportunities outside of members.

What kind of things do you do to stay positive or to keep high expectations? Sometimes it is hard to have high expectations when I have a low success rate.

Thanks for being awesome. You're the best dad ever. I love you. 

Love, Elder Smith

Cold

Well I apologize for not emailing yesterday but we were busy. It has been a great week and we have done a lot. 

Last Monday we decided to reward ourselves and go out to eat. The restaurant is called Flammen and unfortunately I don't have any pictures. It is an all you can eat meat buffet with all kinds of meats. It was pretty awesome in my opinion.

We've had some pretty crazy weather this week with some of the craziest wind and the coldest day of my mission so far. I feel like I have been living in the ice age while surviving hurricanes and tornados. It's pretty fun. Especially on a bike. 

We have done a lot of finding this week and have actually found a good handful of new people to meet with. I am excited for the next while trying to work with them and teach them. We even met a man from Eritrea who speaks English. They usually can't speak English or Danish but are super nice and always want us to come in. We couldn't teach him right when we found him because he was busy celebrating a holiday for Jesus. So I hope that will go good.

Yesterday I had my language test in Copenhagen and that is why I didn't get to email yesterday. I think the test went well and I most likely passed. I have a cool story to share about it too.

We got up early yesterday morning to catch our train. When we got to the station our train had been cancelled. It was okay because the next train would still get us to Copenhagen on time. That train ended up having a 20 minute delay. When we finally got going the train was having problems and was super slow. It was really bad because if you miss your language test you can't reschedule it and you are in big trouble. It didn't look like we were going to make it on time. After 2 hours we got to Århus. Over the speakers they announced that the train we were on was being cancelled and they were switching us all to another train. The new train was a much faster train and ended up getting us to Copenhagen perfectly on time. It was awesome! It doesn't seem like anything super big or special but it was a little testimony builder for me that the Lord watches out for us and doesn't want us to have to many trials. I know that it doesn't always work out like that or in the way we want it to, but he does know what we need and he will provide.

I love you all and hope you have a great week. Keep working hard to adjust to the new year and keep working on those new years resolutions. Ha' det godt!

Elder Smith

Sorry... No pictures this week...

Hi Mom!

That is really cool with Gordon B Hinckley. He has a lot of good mission stories and stuff. Prophets are good examples.

That's pretty impressive that they have records for all that stuff.

I have been trying not to eat before bed because I'm sure that is true but it is pretty hard not to snack because it is like relax time. But I have been trying not to eat then. Haha I like the part where you say "Just food for thought" Hahaha

Hard fasts aren't fun but they do make you really focus on it. I hope your headache is gone now.

That documentary sounds good. I don't see a lot of stuff like that in my mission but I do see and hear a lot about the refugees and it is an eye opener. I am so grateful for what I have and all the blessings I see every day. One of the biggest things I notice is that those people who have gone through and do go through so much are also the most humble and soft hearted people.

They weather has been... different every day. We have a lot of new people to meet with this week so hopefully all that goes well. We need new investigators. We have eaten most of our christmas candy. I still have a couple of those big marabou chocolate bars left. What did you guys think of all the candy? You didn't tell me. I'm sorry I didn't have pictures this week. I put the best thing of the week in my big emai l. :)

A normal day starts with studies until 10:30, then we go and visit a less active or some possible investigators, after that we have lunch. After lunch we usually stop by some potential investigators and try and set up appointments. After that we usually have a few hours a day to knock on doors and try and find people to teach. Every once in a while we have a lesson and those are the best days. We usually have dinner as the last part of the day because we live a ways away from our area. That is also why it is hard not to eat in the evening. Every day is different but that is a pretty normal day. 

I love you lots! Thanks for being the best mom ever!

Love, Elder Smith

To Dad:

Those sound like good classes. Work hard and learn a lot. I finally finished the Book of Mormon on Sunday. I am a super slow reader and it took me forever but I finally finished it. Maybe you will learn some good social skills from your class that will help you with other stuff.

How is work going?

The weather has been not so good here too. It's not as cold but lot's of wind and rain. It snowed but that got washed away by the rain.

You ran 10.33 miles?! That's a lot. I don't know if I could run that far. I have to admit we haven't been the best at running this week. We only ran about 3 times. It looked to not good outside so we didn't want to. I liked where yoo said you pulled a Forest Gump. That made me laugh haha. I think you should run a half marathon. It's a lot more fun when you have other people to try and beat.

I did hear about Austin's call. He sent an email. It is pretty cool that there are a few of us over here in Europe. That doesn't seem that common. Wait where is Austin Valentine? I never heard about his mission call.

Transfers are in 2 weeks. I will probably be getting a new companion. I really want to train, but we will see what happens. We don't have any super solid investigators right now. We have been doing a lot of finding which has been going good. We have a lot of lessons this week so hopefully some good things will come out of them. I have at least been doing some exercise every day and eating a lot better. I ate some filipino deserts the other day. I don't know what they were called but I explained them to Aubrey so maybe she can tell you. My favorite spiritual experience from the past few days was my story from my big email. It's nothing huge, but it was super important that I made it to my test or there would have been some big problems.

I can't think of anything I need. I could use some deodorant but I can just use the Danish stuff. I don't want you to send anything. I will look forward to handwritten letters. I will be sending some in the mail today as well. Thanks for being a good example to me. I love you lots. Have a good week!

Elder Smith

Happy 2017!

Wow time is flying and it is already 2017. This week has been pretty exciting.

On Monday we had an eating appointment during the day so we emailed from the church in the evening. After we were done we went out to bike home and the wind was crazy! It was the windiest day I have seen here so biking home was an adventure.

Over the last few days things have been falling back into normal and we have been on our usual schedule. It felt good to knock some doors again.

We had splits with the Elders from Frederikshavn and that was fun, but we ate almost all of our Christmas candy we had left. I only gained a couple of pounds.

We had a great new year's celebration with some members of the ward. We had to be at our apartment at 9:30 so we didn't get to stay for fireworks but we watched from our apartment. We are kind of inbetween a lot of tall apartment buildings on narrow streets so we couldn't see much, but we climbed to the top of our stairwell and sat in the window where we could see out and it worked pretty well. 

Danes go crazy for fireworks on new years. They wear their best clothes and go and party and spend toooooonnns of money on fireworks and it's just insane. I have a couple of videos so you can see what I mean.

Well that's about it for the week. I hope you have all had a great holidays season. Something we have been sharing with the members is spiritual new year's resolutions. We share Alma 37:35-37 and talk about how this is a great time to counsel with our Father about the things we want to accomplish and improve. I have been working on it myself and I am really excited for the new year. I hope you all have something among your new year's resolutions that will bring you closer to your Father in Heaven and bring a special spirit throughout the year. I love you all and hope you have a good week!

Godt nytår!

Elder Smith

Dear Dad,

The celebration here is crazy! Everyone parties all night and get's drunk and then goes crazy with fireworks.

That is crazy that I won't see you the entire year.

That is fun that Aubrey was able to stay a little longer. I don't know if I believe that you played games the whole time haha. What games did you play? Did you fight at all? Did you like the games?

I like crappy food. I'm going to start doing better. Luckily there won't be people giving us meat and potatoes every day now.
Elder Olson and I have been running every morning the past few weeks. It sucks trying to get going but it's worth it afterwards. Trail runs sound like fun. There aren't really opportunities for that here.
That is really cool with the Pathway thing. What kind of classes are you taking now? I think that sounds like a lot of fun. What are you going to do after the 3 semesters? Do you have an idea? I guess it's good that part of that study is a religion class so that will be a helpful thing. I'm excited to hear about how it goes. Work hard in school dad :)
Well before you know it you will see my face again for mother's day. I'm glad you had a happy holiday season. I love you lots and I am glad you have been doing well. You are a huge example to me. Thanks for being my dad. Have a great week!

Love, Ældste Smith

Hi Mom!

That is pretty weird that I won't see you in person for an entire year.

I like your new year's resolution. Everyone needs to laugh more. Especially the people who frown when I talk to them. I have a lot of things that I want to work on and I set some really good goals this morning in personal study. So I hope that goes well. They will help me a lot spiritually.

I don't know how I will do with eating healthy because I bought ice cream when we got groceries. I told myself I wouldn't but it was on sale. It is the best ice cream I have had in Denmark. BUT I have been eating healthy as far as actual meals go.
You and dad are crybabies haha. Aubrey hasn't been home forever but you cry after giving her up after a week. Silly parents. I miss Aubrey too. I can't wait to see her.

I have definitely been happy here over the holidays. I thought it would be harder and it was hard but at the same time it was such a great experience.
I will sit on your lap and hug you when I get home. but I will try to lose some weight first because I am fat.
Sounds like you had a great new years eve. I can't believe dad played games. That's crazy!
I wish I could have heard Coop's talk. It sounds great. I'm not much for writing down the words of my talks either so I guess no one will read our family's talks. Maybe one day we will be good enough to have someone else write them down for us. I'm partial to my paper scriptures as well especially since we don't have that technology stuff in this mission. It's kind of funny because most other Europe missions have a lot of stuff like that.

I don't usually get cold in church but every once in a while it gets really hot. Our ward had church at 12:00 instead of 10:30 because it was just sacrament meeting so that was nice.

I love you lots mommy! Thanks for being you. You're the best. Have a good week!!!

Love, Elder Smith