9 pounds of cookie dough

Well, it has been a good week. It might be starting to warm up (probably not), but the days have definitely been longer and the sun has been out. We had a lot of fun this week and did a lot. 

On Tuesday we went to a little town called Blokhus out by the coast to stop by some people. They have a beach so we had to take some pictures even though it was cold and windy.

On Wednesday we had a zone training and talked about how we can most effectively and spiritually share and use our testimonies and personal conversion stories.

Thursday we went out to a little town called Ulsted. It was not as nice as the beach town and smelled like poop. And the people were not very nice.

On Saturday we played soccer, which I haven't played since I was in Holbæk, and I remembered that I am not very good. It was still fun. We also had a lesson. We taught a man named Jan and his girlfriend. They were both really nice and he said he is ready for a change in his life. We are really really excited to start teaching him and actually having an investigator.

They actually came to church on Sunday and really enjoyed it. Things might be starting to pick up in our area after such a long time. 

Well I don't have much else to say but that was the week. Oh yeah!!! Earlier this week we were walking home to have dinner and we decided to eat Subway because Aalborg has one of the only ones in Denmark. We really enjoyed the cookies and were trying to decide whether to buy more or not. Then we had the idea to make a massive amount of cookie dough and eat it. So we made 9 pounds of it. Don't worry we didn't eat all of it, we still have some left, but it was definitely the most cookie dough I have ever seen in one place.

Well I thought I would just tell you all about my conversion since that is what we talked about at zone conference. Well like many others, I grew up in the church and was taught when I was young, but it didn't always mean so much to me. I never had a big experience or receive a vision that this was true, but step by step and one small experience after another, my testimony has grown tremendously. The little things I had faith in slowly became knowledge. Something I knew rather than just hoped for. That is why I am a member and why I am here on a mission.

I love you all. Have a great week and be happy!

Love, Ældste Smith

Dear Father,

I'm excited to talk to you in 2 months.

I am doing good. It has been a good week. We got to teach a lesson this week finally! Some of the other Elders in the district got a referral and he was in our area. We are going to be teaching him and he came in church yesterday. He is the first investigator we have had for like a month. His name is Jan.

Haha I guess accidentally running 10 miles is good if it's the only run you get. We played soccer on Saturday and I thought I was going to die from all the running.

I have been learning about personal financial management for sure. It is much easier when my companion is good at it and much harder when they aren't good at it. I get better at it every month though. 

I miss doing yard work with you believe it or not. I hope you miss me while you are out their every Saturday. I don't know when it is going to warm up here. It has been lighter longer though so that is a plus.

I'm glad all the animals are doing fine. I'm pretty surprised Storm is still alive too. That rabbit is a tough one. You should send me pictures of the new chickens. 

Have Cooper go long boarding with some of his friends first to see if he likes it. He does have some short lived interests. That's crazy that he is 16 in a few weeks. How tall is he now? Is he still a little guy?

Things have been up and down all the time. Missions are hard. But I am happy and I love it. Things have been good. I am still learning.

Well. Have a good week. I love you dad.

Love, Elder Smith

Dear Mother,

Well the one that showed up in church hasn't showed to anything else or answered his phone, so that's a bummer. But we found another new investigator that I told dad about and wrote about him in my big email.

I forgive you for giving me bowling skills. I am pretty average at a lot of sports. It is fun that Elder Hager and I have stuff in common. We don't play guitar at the same time. And he is way better than me. I haven't done anything publically with my music talents. I just play on a piano or something sometimes.

I'm sorry I never have anything really funny. I will do better at finding something and writing it down so I don't forget. You can have the joke that Lisa Labrum sent me.

Late one night, a burglar broke into a house that he thought was empty.  He stealthily crept through the lounge and was stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a loud voice clearly saying, 'Jesus is watching you!'

Silence returned to the house, so the burglar crept forward again.
'Jesus is watching you', the voice rang out again.

The thief stopped dead again. He was frightened out of his wits. Frantically, he looked all around. In a dark corner, he spotted a birdcage and in the cage was a parrot.

He asked the parrot, 'Was that you who said Jesus is watching me?' 
'Yes', said the parrot.

The burglar breathed a heavy sigh of relief and asked the parrot: 'What's your name?' 
'Ronald', said the bird.

'That's a stupid name for a parrot, 'sneered the burglar.' What idiot named you Ronald?' 
The parrot said, 'The same idiot who named the Rottweiler Jesus.

I'm excited to get the package. I think if you send it today then I will most likely get it at the next zone conference in like 3 weeks. I sent you guys a letter in the mail today. I hope you like it.

That sounds like a really good sacrament meeting. I love the sacrament meetings where at the end you actually feel like you got a lot out of it. I have had a few here. If I focus. It's hard with Danish sometimes.
I have probably seen the new restoration video but I don't know what is new or what is old. Have you seen either of the 2 new temple videos? They have temple information in our mission email and it said something about them. 

I'm excited to talk to you on Mother's day too. That is super weird. Time is going by waaaayyyyyy too fast.

Everything is okay. My clothes are holding up pretty well. I am going to keep an eye out for another pair of pants. I am working super hard.

Jeg elsker dig tusind gange ti!

Love, Elder Smith

Hmmm

Well I guess I have a few things this week. I mentioned last week getting a new companion Elder Hager. We have had an awesome time together. He comes from St. George and is a swimmer. He is also way good at guitar. We have a lot of fun.

We did a lot more knocking this week and it was good. We found more people to meet with. We haven't had a chance to meet with a lot of the ones we already found, but now we have more! Yay!

Sunday was cool! We were in church and I was holding the door and this guy I have never seen before came in and asked if he was allowed to stay. I said of course and he stayed all of church. Turns out he has talked to missionaries before and he wants to be baptised. He is homeless and has some smoking problems but we are way excited to start meeting with him. Hopefully all goes well.

That's about all I have this week. Today we went bowling and that was super fun. I don't have much to say about that though. I lost every match. It's okay though. I learned from it. Sometimes life is like bowling. You may not be so good at it but you can still have a fun time because you're bowling with your friends. 

I love you all! Have a great week! 

Love, Elder Smith

Dear mother,

Haha I love called to serve. We sing it at every zone training or conference.

I like whatever reese's. Yes the small cadbury eggs. :) I don't think there is anything else I need. maybe a bag of flamin hot cheetos haha. I got a package this week from my friend John and his mom! It was awesome. They are so nice. They said it was a delayed christmas package full of candy and ramen noodles and a couple ties.

Elder Hager is awesome! He is from St. George. He is also a swimmer and is really good at guitar. He has been out for a year and a half. We have had a lot of fun so far.
Knocking on doors has been good. Slow but good. We have a lot of potentials. It has just been hard to meet with them all.

I have a funny story but it might not be that funny. You will smile though. Our apartment is really big and we have a little basketball hoop with like four small nerf basketballs. I was shooting hoops and Elder Hager blocked one and it hit me in the face so it turned into a war. It was fun. I guess it's not that funny.

Most Danish people speak Danish to us. Some switch but most of the time we speak Danish. I feel like I understand almost everything that is said. Depending on the person who is speaking. Almost every Dane knows we are american. It is almost impossible for an american to sound Danish even after being here for a long time. Some danes like americans and some don't most of them are fine with us though haha.

We were all cooking together when we had 4 missionaries in the apartment, but now it is 2 again and we like to get stuff seperately. So unless we plan a meal together we just make our own stuff.

That's crazy that Todd got his call. There are a lot of missionaries coming over here to Europe.

I'm glad you got to do the wedding. It sounds fun. It is really sad that a lot of girls have that problem. I can't really imagine how it feels to be in their position, but it makes me sad. I don't hear a lot from Kelsey Sims, but I hope she is doing better with all of that.

Haha I like baby kyllinger. I hope they all live. I'm glad they are cute.

I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Elder Smith

Hey Dad!

Things are good. It was pretty nice and sunny this week. I think it might be on the uphill, knock on wood. I like my new companion a lot. He is from St. George and has been out a year and a half. He is a swimmer and we get along great. We have been learning a lot from each other.

I'm glad you finally got spring after all that snow.

The chicks sound fun. I hope they all live. If 2 are roosters do you have to get rid of one?

You have been doing good with exercise. I will admit I have been slacking recently. I wish I had more time and better means of exercise like a pool or a gym, but I guess that's not important. I have been eating alright. I just eat a lot. I should probably lose some weight before I go home so you aren't so much lighter than me.

I'm glad I am serving a mission. It has been the best thing ever for me. It is like a roller coaster of ups and downs. I have never counted in a week how many times I have thought I want to go home and how many times I have thought how much I love my mission, but I'm sure it's a lot. It's pretty weird how fast it can switch. I love it though. Even when it is hard and we can't find a single person to teach. I know I'm doing the right thing. If you have any suggestions on how to have a better study that would be awesome. It seems like at the beginning of my mission I was so much more focused and learned so much more, but now I feel like I never have enough time and I don't get anything done. 

I love you lots. Thanks for everything you do for me. Have a good week!

Love, Elder Smith

Staying in Aalborg!

Well the transfer ended this week and I will be staying here in Aalborg, but my companion Elder Halling left the area. I get a new companion today, Elder Hager. He seems like a fun guy and it should be good. I am glad I get to stay here though because I really like it.

It hasn't been too exciting this week. We met with Eniko on Tuesday and she dropped us so now we don't really have any investigators, But we also have done a lot of knocking and have found tons of people who want to meet with us so that will be great.

That's about all that happened this week. Sorry it hasn't been too exciting.

Just want you all to know that I have a testimony of God's plan for us and that he knows what we need and when we need it. Have faith in His knowledge and trust Him. Everything happens for a reason. As well as having faith in His plan, strive everyday to understand it. It will be a bigger blessing and you will have more gratitude towards it. 

Have a great week! I love you all.

Love, Elder Smith

Hey dad!

It has been a pretty good week. Sadly E. didn't make it to church this week and she dropped us. It was pretty hard. We have been doing a lot of finding but still haven't found any new investigators. A couple people have listened to us, we just haven't gotten any more appointments quite yet.

I really like those scriptures from Jacob. There are so many good things from those chapters. President O'Bryant shared something from chapter 5 in his email the other week about how God knew what he was doing in the vinyard even though things seemed hopeless at times. It was awesome. I will be sure to study 1 corinthians 13 sometime this week and tell you about it.

Things are good here. We may be in a bit of a rut, but I'm not discouraged right now. I know that things will pick up. It is sometimes hard to have charity and love. I have days where I don't want to talk to another Danish person, but then I know that so many of them are just raised in this culture and don't understand why it is we are trying to tell them to change. So I love them, it is just hard sometimes. I will keep working hard. 

Thanks for the scriptures and the uplifting thoughts. I love you lots. Thank you for being a good example. Have a good week.

Love, Elder Smith

Dearest Mother,

I am doing pretty swell. Thanks for thinking about me and praying for me.

I really dislike mud. We have had a lot of rain and wind. Not a good combination. Sorry that the amount of snow was a terrible inbetween. Remember when you and Coop and I went cc skiing? That was fun.

Yeah it sounds like a lot of missionaries are going to be coming to the mission in the summer. There are so many who are going to be leaving. 5 are coming to the mission tomorrow. Transfers was a surprise for me because I am staying in Aalborg but Elder Halling left the area. It was weird because he has only been here for a transfer. But it looks like I'm staying for a while longer!

I never got any results back for the test. Probably will sometime soon.

I don't have any funny stories this week. I probably have some but I can't remember anything when it is time to email. I will try this week. I will make it a goal.

If you have more questions about the area or Denmark I will answer them for you but I'm not good at coming up with stuff.

I could use some Fiji deodorant. I can't think of anything else that I need. You can definitely send the continuous atonement book. I have had tons of questions about the atonement that I can't find answers too. I have had some good studies and learned a lot, but I keep finding more questions.

I don't have a favorite area so far. Every area has it's challenges and every area has it's pros. But I love both Holbæk and Aalborg.

I usually eat stuff like sauce and meat and vegetables. We actually have had a good variety lately like Burritos, homemade mac and cheese, mashed potatoes with tons of stuff. A while ago we made frikadeller, the danish pork meatballs. It was pretty good. I try my best to eat fruits and veggies. I don't use the meal cards that much but I have looked through them a few times for ideas.

So I'm not sure what his mission is like as far as what they wear is but most people just want to buy new clothes when they get to Europe. I'm fine with everything I have except the pocket on the CTR pants always rip. The socks are fine. The shirts are fine. It might be good to find stuff like suits at a non "missionary outfitter" store. And just find a good suit and stuff other places. I guess I don't know that much about it though. I just don't care about looking too american as long as my clothes hold up.

It is pretty crazy that people are starting to get mission calls again. And that my friends are getting married. That's just weird. 

I love you sooooooooooooooooooo much! Have a good, happy week.

Love, Elder Smith 

Fastelavns!

Well it's been another week already. Time is just flying by. The transfer ends next Monday so I will find out if anything is changing next Monday. I am hoping I stay here in Aalborg with Elder Halling. Things are pretty good here.

This week was fun. We had a zone conference in Århus on Wednesday and that was good. We talked a lot about inviting people to church and teaching the importance of church. We also talked about working and building our relationships with members, which went well with our experience from last week.

On Thursday we traveled out to Aabybro to visit some less active members. All of them were home. All of them had been away from the church for a very long time and weren't interested in coming back for now. That was pretty sad but it was good to give them a visit.

Thursday night we ate at flammen again. The meat buffet. It was awesome. It's good to go out every once in a while when your main staple of life is rice or pasta. :)

We had a fastelavns party at the church on Saturday. Fastelavns is a holiday here where everyone dresses up. They have a special pastry for it (delicious), and a lot of fun games. One of them is where they put a black cat in a barrel and beat the barrel with sticks until the cat dies and the barrel breaks apart (it's to get rid of bad luck). They don't do the cat in the barrel thing anymore, but they do it with popcorn or treats so it's fun enough for me.

That's about everything exciting that happened this week. I thought I would tell you about a study I had this week. I studied Christ's Atonement, because I made a goal that I want to understand it more. Reading and learning about it has been so good. I still can't explain it perfectly, but I know it works and I know that it is the way. I hope all of you are striving everyday to take advantage of the blessing of the atonement and turn your wrongs into rights. It isn't always easy, but it is always worth it when you experience the true joy and happiness that comes from the atonement. 

Have a great week and smile! I love you all!

Elder Smith

Dear Mother,

I can hear you loud and clear! I'm glad I'm here too. It's worth it. If you ever decide to come to Denmark I will gladly be your tour guide.

That doesn't sound fun with the car. It is really annoying when random things happen that just cost money. I'm sorry about the bike and that it happened at the same time. It was embarrassing because I should know how to clean them without breaking them. It is working now though so that it good. After walking so much last week, I am glad to have it back.

I didn't write down a funny story... I guess I'm not good at remembering things or having funny things to tell. 

I'm glad you went for a walk in the sun. The sunlight is precious. It has rained the past couple of days which isn't so nice in the cold. Sometimes Denmark weather is alright temperature-wise, but I'm not a fan of the rain and wind. It gets way to cold when you are on a bike.

We walked around for a while, but we weren't in our area and the town was so small there weren't many people to talk to, but we did give out a book of mormon.

We gave up stracciatella yoghurt haha. It is a really thick vanilla yoghurt with chocolate chips in it. It is really really good. She texted and said it has been really hard. She said she didn't have coffee 3 days out of 8. Not perfect, but she is trying which is awesome. We are going to try to get her to come to church this week. 

I love you lots too. I'm sorry if I don't say that much to you in my emails. I try to say most things on my group email, but I'm not very good at remembering things like stories. I will always answer questions though. My apartment right now is pretty big. We have a room for our desks and study and a living room to relax. The food is still good. I don't think I have eaten anything weird recently. There are a lot of little differences here but nothing to extreme. People here have a very liberal view. They aren't so talkative or outgoing but they are usually nice. They just keep to themselves a lot and don't like to do very much. Denmark is pretty worldly. Even though the food here is good, I miss a lot of american food. They don't have a lot of things here and a lot of the things they do have are really expensive. A jar of peanut butter is almost 10 dollars. I miss a lot of American candy too. The streets here are cool and the roads look nice in cobblestone, but sometimes the big functional roads in america are nicer. Sometimes a pastry is better than in america but you can't get a good donut here. There are tons of things good about both and plenty not as good. You should send a package later this spring with some easter candy I can't get here. Like jelly beans and cadbury eggs and reese's. I still have to send you something I got for you around christmas time.

I haven't written you all in a while so I will try to soon. I love you lots mommy! Share your email with the rest of the family because theirs were short and I don't have much time. Have a good week!!!

Love, Elder Smith

Dear Dad,

I'm doing good. It has been a fun week. We don't really have any investigators besides E. I learned some new things about the atonement this week. The language is going well. It is hard though because I keep making grammar mistakes. We are struggling with finding people. We haven't found any new investigators this transfer. Lot's of potentials but no new investigators.

That is a crazy story with the snow. We don't really have any snow anymore. It sounds like it has been pretty crazy over there, though. I'm glad you made it out though. That would have been pretty bad to be stuck up there. You have had a lot of fun delays lately. 

Mom sent me the What is Truth talk so I will be sure to read it. It looks really good.

That is so crazy that all those people will be getting their calls. Time is going by so fast. I still feel like I just barely started. 

Well I'm sorry I don't have a lot of time. I hope you have a good week. I love you.

Love, Elder Smith

Sunshine!

Hey everyone! Denmark is finally starting to warm up a bit. Fingers crossed that it keeps warming up. I have also seen the sun a few times this week. 

Nothing too exciting this week. I went on splits with Elder Preece this week. We decided to visit someone in a small town in the middle of nowhere. We took a bus out to a small town where we were to switch to another bus to a smaller town. Our bus to the first town was late so we missed the other bus. We ended up being stuck there for over an hour before we could take the next bus back to Aalborg. It was a big waste of time. But it was fun hanging out with Elder Preece.

We did a lot of knocking the second half of the week and we found a ton of people. They are all just super busy so that will take some time. 

On Friday there was something making a lot of noise on my bike so I decided to figure out what it was and fix it. I started taking it apart and concluded that it was just extremely dirty. I took everything apart and cleaned it. When I was putting it back together I figured out that I did something wrong with the brakes and had to take my bike to the bike shop. So we have been walking the past couple days. It's pretty embarrassing. Oh well.

On Saturday we had an awesome lesson with our investigator Eniko. We talked about prophets and the word of wisdom, which are two pretty big things. She was pretty reluctant to give up coffee but we agreed to give up our favorite dessert while she gives up coffee. 

Yesterday we visited a couple of less active members. They only had a couple of minutes, but we came in and shared a scripture about reading the words of Christ and how they can help us (2 Nephi 32:3) They shared with us how much they had seen the scriptures help them in their lives and how it has been really hard since they have stopped reading and coming to church. They want us to come back and help them come back to church. The spirit was so strong!

The words of Christ can really teach us everything we need to know. If we follow his example as closely as we can, we are doing exactly what we need to be doing. It is amazing how the Book of Mormon and other scriptures can give us the strength we need to do hard things and to grow and learn. I invite you all to continue reading and learning from the scriptures as much as you can. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week! Stay warm and stay happy. 

Love, Elder Smith

Hey mother,

Well I had a little problem with the brakes on my bike the other day and it is in the shop now. I have to pick it up tomorrow at 3 and I will have to pay like 300 crowns for it. Or 50 dollars. So that sucks. But it would be nice if you could transfer it to my card when you see this so I can pay for it tomorrow. I love you! Thanks!

 Your expensive son and favorite missionary,

Elder Smith

Hi Mom!!

Your life is still pretty interesting. You have done a lot this week.

That is so crazy that Lindsey is married. It is pretty crazy all of the things my friends have been doing. It's kind of sad though too. Things are never the same. Changes are weird.

Sorry about all the dumb money things. I wrote about the brakes in my big email. It was just dumb and annoying and frustrating, but I have my bike now and it works.

It sounds like you guys had an awesome stake conference. That sounds like a really good talk. I love Savior Redeemer of my soul. It makes me cry. We had a good stake conference last week too. There were some good talks.

I don't have very many funny stories. I guess I will have to look a little closer this week and write one down for you. I promise I will. 

I wish Aubrey would come visit me for the weekend. I would like to go for a 10pm walk. It has just started warming up a bit here, but I spoke a bit too soon. Most of today has been rainy and windy, so not too pleasant. It's alright though I'm sure I will see the sun again one of these days.

Thank you for thinking about Eniko. I am so excited for her and hope everything keeps going the way it has been. I am just worried for the later lessons on things. We really don't have a lot more investigators besides Eniko. We have a lot of potential investigators and people we are trying to get appointments with, but we have had a slow transfer besides Eniko. We have only found 2 new investigators in a month.

I love you lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots times 10000000 to the power of 10 times 6!

Have a good week.

Love, den bedste missionær søn som du har.

Hey pops,

It has been a pretty good one. It was harder at the beginning but it got a lot better. The bike thing was just really annoying and dumb. Eniko is still progressing. She has committed to live the Word of Wisdom this week. Luckily she has no problems with smoking or alcohol and just likes her coffee. I'm scared for the future lessons with her, but I know she can do it.

Ever since I left it seems like you have been doing a lot of different things and I think it's crazy that you found time for them and you are still doing it. I'm sure it's hard sometimes. We hardly ever have much planned when we start our day but it always seems like we run out of time way too fast. I have been doing good at working out in the morning. Still having a hard time eating well.

We had stake conference last week and it was really good. They did it in a little concert hall because the church buildings in our stake aren't big enough to hold everyone. I like how they talked about inviting. We can't force anyone to be ready. We can try and help them prepare, but the most important thing to do is invite. Nothing will ever happen if they aren't invited to do anything. They may be ready and not know it yet, so it is important to give them the opportunity. It sounds like you had a really good conference.

That is crazy that it has been a year since I opened my call. In a week I will have been in Denmark for 8 months. Time is flying.

Thanks for everything you do for me. I love you lots. Have a great week.

Love, Elder Smith

Tro

Hi everyone! Hope you have all had a good week. Things in Aalborg have been going swell. We got a lot of snow at the beginning of the week and have been freezing our tails off, but the sun usually comes out every two or three days!

We had a week full of knocking and teaching just like it should be. We had stake conference yesterday and there were some great talks. We sang part of "We'll Bring the World His Truth" with some of the primary children, and it was awesome.

Well I don't have much more to say because I'm excited to tell you our investigator Eniko has decided to be baptised on the first of April! When we first started teaching her she thought God hated her and didn't have much faith in Christ. Now she prays every day, reads from the scriptures, and is building her faith in Christ. It is going to be a big change for her, but I am really excited to work with her on the way to baptism. 

I don't have much else to say but I hope you are all striving every day to find faith in Christ. It isn't something we are born with and it is something that we should always be trying to build up.

Have a great week! I love you all!

Elder Smith

Dear Mom,

Things have been going good. 

That sounds like you had a fun time with Aubrey this weekend. 

There weren't too many pictures on the card. I tried formatting it so we will see if that works. I don't have a backup. I lost it in Holbæk.

I'm glad you have gotten perfect points. I don't think I have gotten perfect points the past few weeks. It has not been a too healthy time. But I am still working out. 

Elder Halling and I have a similar sense of humor. But we are pretty different in other ways. We have been doing really well together.

I'm glad I have clothes and a toe as well.

Hmmmm. I can't really think of a funny story. We were knocking one day and there were like 4 different people who answered without pants on, but that wasn't very funny.

There are always funny things going on that make me laugh. We are in a 4 man apartment and we laugh all the time. I don't know any specific stories. 

That is so crazy that Lindsey is getting married already. I'm glad you get to go to the ceremony. That's cool.

I love you lots and lots and lots. Keep Eniko in your prayers. Have a good week.

Love, Elder Smith

Dear Dad,

I'm doing good. I have learned a lot this week. Denmark is cold. The church is true. And missionary work pays off.

We have been extra busy. Lots of knocking and a lot of teaching, probably the most I've had of both. No major changes to our schedule. We just do language or companionship study at different times.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals reminds me of Timberline. I like smart goals. I always have a hard time with morning prayers. I usually do them, but I don't know how much I get out of them. It's hard to focus right when you get up.

Working out is fun. I have been doing pretty good at that. The new schedule lets us have an extra 30 minutes in the morning for exercise so I have been doing a little more.

You just need a missionary planner, it will help you plan your days haha. It's not to hard to find time to do things here. We aren't exactly loaded with teaching appointments, we have to choose lot's of different things to do.

I'm glad things are moving along. I can't wait for winter to go away. It's so cold. 

I miss you a lot. I love you a lot. Thank you for all the help and support. Keep Eniko in your prayers. She has a lot of changes to make in the next couple of months and I'm not sure how to teach them.

Have a good week.

Love, Elder Smith

Busier Every Day

It has been a very busy week and pretty crazy as well. We have had some great new things happen and I am excited for the coming days.

On Thursday the other Elders here in Aalborg moved into our apartment because the sisters moved into theirs because their apartment is getting repainted. So it's been pretty crazy in our apartment the past few days.

Elder Halling has also been sick the past few days so we have been switching off with the other Elders so we could still teach all of our lessons. We had two lessons with new people and they went great. Both of them want us to come back and teach them so I am excited for that.

We had a zone training on Friday and it was great. I'm sure most of you have heard that they came out with a new missionary schedule and we will see how it goes. It is taking some adjusting. The rest of the training was really good and I got a lot of new ideas on how to be a better missionary.

Our mission set a goal for this transfer to give out 2000 Books of Mormon. It has really helped us focus on the special message of the restoration and the Book of Mormon. It is what makes the LDS church different and it is the keystone of our religion. Our mission President challenged all of us to read the whole book within the next two months. I'm not very fast at reading, but I'm going to do my best to read it because I have done it before and the things that you learn from it are amazing. Every time the book is opened something special happens. Like Joseph Smith said "It will bring a man closer to God than any other book." I hope you would all take some time to read something from the Book of Mormon every day and really find out what it is and why it is so important. I know that you will learn something amazing.

I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week. Thanks for everything!

Love, Elder Smith

To Mom:

Hi! Sorry about the dropbox thing. I finally had my card thing to put pictures on from the past few weeks so I went to put them on and the whole computer just froze up and then I pulled out my card and it did something weird and all the pictures were gone. So that's awesome.

Haha yeah those are good pictures. I promise I wasn't flirting with the sisters or sleeping.
How is your challenge going? Are you winning? I haven't been so good at being healthy right now. It's hard. The other Elders moved into our apartment and Elder Preece likes to make deserts and things so it's pretty bad. I haven't been running lately for exercise. It's too cold. I just try to do some pushups or bicycles.

I always choked on water when I did backstroke too. So that's okay. I miss swimming.

Things are good with Elder Halling. He is very different from all my companions but he is great. We have pretty similar personalities with some things. Not a ton of common interests though. He is a hard worker. I don't know if he likes to run. Most people don't like it.
Sorry you couldn't find a perfect bow. I guess you'll have to keep looking. If you keep trying three at a time, you will always have 3 different bows to use.
The schedule isn't super different. We just have a shorter lunch and can move things around more. Like have studies in the evening if we wanted to.
My clothes are holding up alright. One of the pairs of CTR pants ripped by the pocket again. I'm not impressed. Everything is holding up though. The only clothes I have bought are a couple ties.

My toe is doing a lot better. Almost completely healed.

I am staying warm enough but it is pretty cold.

I did get my scripture case back and I still love my scriptures.
I love you too! You're my favorite mom!

I like the story about Aubrey. :)

Love, Ældste Smith

To Dad:

Wow. It sounds like the superbowl was a fun one to watch. Did you figure out how to watch it on our TV?

It hasn't been warming up here. It has been feeling a little colder actually. It snowed all day today. None of it stuck but it never stopped.

That is cool what Grandma told you. Maybe one day I will be the mission president here. I wish there was a way to find any family I have here and contact them. That would be cool.

I have looked through some of the family history stuff but there isn't that much. I really wish I could find a lot of the Danish resources from it. Like grandma sent me a autobiography written by Lauritz Smith, but it is translated to English. I want to read the Danish one.

Sounds like that would be a good Book of Mormon class. I love those chapters in 2 Nephi. I just studied chapter 4 on Tuesday. It was good. It is extra good when you have a hard time with temptations or feel that you aren't worthy.

I really liked the broadcast. It really made me think of some ways that I can teach better. I feel like I have been getting better and better at teaching. I love when our investigators seem interested and when they understand. The hardest part is getting them to do the things that we want them to do. I have been thinking of ways to entice them so that they want to do those things and try them. It's pretty hard though, because it's not really something that most Danes are interested in finding out about.

Thanks for everything. I love you lots. Have a good week. Be happy.

Love Elder Smith