December 29, 2014

Hej Mor og Far,

This has been a wonderful week. Christmas was an awesome experience, and I know I'll come to really treasure the Danish Christmas(es) that I've had.

Elder Lester and I had another good opportunity to talk with people on Christmas Day. After visiting with the Dalberg family in the morning, we asked if they knew of any specific places we could go caroling that they thought would be good. We'd been searching for plejehjemme type places mostly, and 'L' suggested one that we could go visit in town.

The people there were really excited to have someone come sing to them, and some of them even joined in as we continued singing. The spirit was really strong, and afterward we made sure to take the time to talk with all that had listened. It was really sweet to be there on visit with these people, and all of them with such interesting stories.

The first woman I was talking about clearly had some problems with her memory, but was never less enthusiastic about telling us what sweet boys we were for coming and singing to them.

The woman that Elder Lester was talking with was a little bit more with it, and said that she would be interested in talking with us further. It was an awesome visit, and really made us feel like we made a difference to somebody on Christmas.

I love this time of year. I'm looking forward to my next transfer here. Ældste Millward seems to be very excited about the work and Helsingør in general, and we get along great already.

It really was an incredible experience this week with skyping. 

'V' had always given me a hard time that I didn't ever cry (which you both know is quite untrue) so I told her just to wait until I got my parents on Skype, and sure enough, you guys delivered ;) 

It really was a sweet spiritual moment, and I was even more grateful that 'V' was able to be present, not just to see me cry but to really be able to relate that same spirit she feels, in a situation where we were testifying of exactly what that feeling was as we read about the voice of God and the Holy spirit. 

I love you both. I hope you all have a happy new year!

Love you,

Ældste Pitcher

December 22, 2014

Christmas is in the air!

We've been caroling a lot this week, and bringing the message of Christ's birth to everyone we've been talking with. I love being able to share the spirit and meaning of Christmas through music. Its one thing I'm certain to incorporate more in my personal celebration of the Savior's birth when I one day have my own family.

We had a nice experience with the Hillerød Elders caroling to their investigator family, familien Hirsea. Because we were four we were able to come in and share a Christmas message, and talk with both ‘M’ and ‘V’ about joining the Church. They both have a great desire to join, and throughout the appointment they continued to express what a blessing they both knew it would be in their lives. It was great to be a part of, but I'm sure the Hillerød Elders will explain more about it.

‘V’ just recently received her baptismal dress in the mail. She is coming down off of the e-cigarettes right on schedule, and is asking us for things we can commit her to every time we come over. The change in her attitude towards the church and the gospel is a miracle. It's been a complete 180 degree change, and she is thirsting for knowledge. That's even the Christ like attribute that she chose to study along with us for this month is knowledge. She has chosen to read the Book of Mormon through before her baptism, and she's well on her way.

All of this excitement about religion in the house has had a huge effect on ‘Vi’, whom, to everyone's surprise, actually went and checked out a bunch of books about the Bible from the library this last week. We've been teaching them together, and ‘Vi’ is following close after her mother.

I love this time of the year. I'll never forget my Danish Christmas(es) :)  

Some fun stuff from the week was that Elder Lester and I tried a Swedish delicacy known as Surstrømming.... Absolutely disgusting.  No doubt the worst thing I've ever eaten. The strong smell attracted a fox into the Dalberg's front yard by the end of the evening.  Wow, it was bad.  You can see videos online of people vomiting as they eat it.  Gross...

We got ‘V’ a REALLY nice Danish Bible she had been wanting, and today we just went to Tivoli! That's actually why I'm emailing so late, we just got back. 

I'll try to send some pictures next week since I'm trying to keep it short now.  Hope y’all don't mind. 

EVERYONE BE ON SKYPE AT 6:30 a.m. ish. That's about when I'll be skyping home.  Hope that's ok, we just have the other elders from Birkerød coming, and we decided to take the earlier time. 

Hey, I'm way short for time, didn't really get to look at your email right now.  I'll be sure to send more tomorrow before district meeting before church.  I like the cards, and congrats Dakota!!  Like I said, more tomorrow, Peace and Love!!

Ældste Pitcher

December 15, 2014

Hey Ma and Pa!!

Here's the week.

To start off the week, I figured I might talk a little bit more about the 'He is the Gift' initiative.  It's been going great in our area, and it's been very easy to talk with more and more people about Christmas, and its true meaning. 

During splits this week, Elder Enniss and I contacted one woman on the street, and by simply asking her what Christmas meant to her, we were able to set an atmosphere where we could bear testimony of Christ.  She gave us her number, and we'll be looking forward to setting up a time to meet with her hopefully today, or in the coming days.  This tool really does work, and I've already seen how many hearts it has softened.  It's actually been a surprise to me to see just how many people DON'T care to talk about Christmas.  I'm so used to getting such a positive response from people, it is shocking when people aren't even willing to look up the website.

Things with ‘V’ continue to progress and go forward.  Now and again she'll have her doubts, mostly because she feels like things are just going so quickly now as opposed to before, and she doesn't feel like she can always answer all of her family's questions, but she's always clung to the testimony she has, and knows that this is the right path.  She's excited, we're excited.  She should be down to zero nicotine by next week, so keep her in your prayers! 

‘Vi’ has been coming to church regularly as well, and even had a part in a quartet in choir yesterday in church.  She has her own growing testimony, and we are continuing to teach her as well as ‘V’.  We're all looking forward to Christmas time, and I don't feel at all away from home during the Christmas season in Denmark.  I look forward to miracles that come at this time of year with the work, just as I witnessed last year during this special time.

 
I just remembered this last bit from when you were talking about the experience I had with my district last year caroling in the hospital during Christmas.  There is a man in our ward who has just found out that he has cancer.  We visit every now and again, and decided this last time to sing some carols for him and his wife.  After having a wonderful experience with them, we went ahead like we did last year and sang to all the different faculties in the hospital.  It was an awesome spirit that travelled with us, and we were able to talk with a lot of people about the true meaning of Christmas.  I love this time of year :)

I also forgot to mention, but Elder Lester and I were able to do four little acts of kindness the other morning that I wanted to talk about. 

On the way to Allerød to pick something up from the church, Elder Lester moved a pallet of bricks to the side to help a woman get her stroller off the bus.  Then, when we were about to hop on a train an old woman asked us to help her get her wheel that had fallen off of her little carry bag out from in between the train and the platform.... (about a 6 inch gap to work with, and it was about 2 and a half feet down).   Then I thought about it for a second, and quickly whipped my belt off.  After a minute of fishing, and to everyone's (especially my own) surprise, I looped the metal part through one of the spokes and was able to pull the wheel out.   You'd have thought that I just saved this woman's cat from being run over by the way she was going off about how amazing I was haha.  She started introducing me to people on the train as if I was a super hero.  It actually turned into a great conversation, and I was able to share the 'he is the gift' video with her. 

We later helped some people from Syria find their way to get to Copenhagen, and also helped one man in an automatic wheelchair get off a train when his front wheels got stuck trying to cross the gap onto the platform.  It was a pretty awesome day :) 

Anyway, that's pretty much it.  I love you both, and hope you have a good one.

Ældste Pitcher

December 8, 2014

Hey Ma and Pa!

Everyone loves Christmas!! I've been able to bring up the Savior in conversations that started out talking about an RC robot that a man was bringing home as a Christmas present for his grandchild. Everyone feels the spirit of Christmas, and it makes it easy to bring in the message of our Saviors birth.
And, of course, ‘V’ is set to be baptized on the 17th of January now!! It came out of nowhere when we were just talking with ‘V’ about setting a date, and how she didn't feel comfortable about doing it before the end of the year.  Elder Lester just said, 'Well then, when DO you see yourself getting baptized?' And January 17th was the date. 

What an amazing week it's been in that part of Helsingør. It's crazy to see that she has seen such a dramatic change in her overall happiness this last week. She is so excited, so nervous, and sometimes even a little bit worried, but we've been reminding her of the blessings she's already seen as a direct result of her decision, and she's pressing forward with faith. 

December 2013 - Copenhagen Denmark Temple

During this last week as we were considering different pieces of the baptismal calendar, ‘V’ asked me to do the confirmation.  I feel so honored, and am so happy that I've been here to witness the change in this family's lives over the last few months.  I know that I was supposed to be sent to this area at this time to help them, and I'm grateful every day for the experiences that I've already had, and for the ones that are on the way.

Participating in the Christmas concert in Copenhagen was also a wonderful experience, the spirit was present, and I was happy to be a part of it.  This mission has A LOT of talent, and I'm always impressed at the caliber of missionaries we have in this mission.  It's awesome to see.

It's really good to see the family pictures and all the fresh happy faces.  Still, I'm going to have to be sure to get as much out of my last Christmas in Denmark as I possibly can :) 

December 2014 - Copenhagen Denmark Temple

I actually got to see Sister Klein at a Christmas concert put on by our stake last night (the Kleins were the family I was with last year for Christmas)  and it was an awesome little memory of my time spent here in Denmark during the Christmas season, and the amazing experiences that I'll be able to cherish the rest of my life.  I'm definitley going to be incorporating some of these traditions when I get home though. THAT you can be certain of :)  They really know how to party during 'Juletiden'. 

Another big part of my Christmas this year is actually a big thing that the church has going on right now.  A huge initiative is being put on by the church right now to share the true meaning of Christmas.  On christmas.mormon.org, there is a Christmas video called 'He is the Gift' that talks a little about the first gift of Christmas.  It's really inspiring, and I've already seen it touch a lot of hearts of people that we've been able to share it with. 

And that's the next part of the initiative.  Share the video with EVERYONE :)  #ShareTheGift and share it online, and everywhere you can.  This is something that all my missionary friends, and all the members over the whole world are doing right now to spread some Christmas spirit based around the true meaning of Christmas.  Let me know how things go :) 

Love you both

Ældste Pitcher

December 1, 2014

Hey Ma and Pa

We will indeed be skyping from ‘D’s. Likely around the same time as last year. I'll be sure to coordinate, and of course ‘V’ can always just find you on Facebook :)  

ON to this week :)  We needed to find a few new people this week and we did. It's been tough over the last little bit here with finding. We've been talking with more and more people and learning how to come out of our comfort zones with the focus on finding since it's been the focus mission wide, and we found two new investigators to start working with this week.

I'm most excited about a girl we met named ‘L’. Elder Lester and I were going to an appointment Thursday evening clear out in Tikøb, a little city out in the middle of nowhere to have Thanksgiving with a friend of ours. He burned our appointment. We were a little upset, especially since it was supposed to be our Thanksgiving meal with him, but we decided we'd just hop back on an earlier bus and try to see if we could talk with anyone on the way home.

I sat next to ‘L’ in the back of the bus and started a casual conversation. After a while we started talking about why I was here, and about the church, and eventually her questions led to a full blown lesson. We ended up getting off at the last stop with her, and she told us she hadn't really had a plan of where she was going to go that evening, she just felt like taking a trip on the bus. It's moments like those that always make me feel the best. 

We'll actually be meeting with ‘L’ later today, so hopefully things go well :)  

Everything continues to go well with the ‘D’s, and we're working so hard to make sure that ‘V’ keeps progressing the way that she has been.  ‘Vi’ also got back from Thailand this week, and we've started teaching her.  So innocent and humble.  It's awesome to be with this family.

Ældste Beary

I miss you both huge bundles.  I'm grateful for everything that you guys have given me, and I just remembered after saying that that I forgot my 10 things... sorry. I'll have to try and do some make up work, but I am thankful for the plan that God has for all of us. 

Recently I've really started to focus on the plan God has for us while we are on the earth.  After feeling pretty low in the middle of this last week, I kneeled down to pray to ask for forgiveness, and help to be able to bear some of the burdens I've had recently.  A scripture from my personal study came to my mind, and I recognized something interesting when comparing it to another scripture we had considered sharing we someone earlier this week. 

The first one is in Matthew 11 when Christ invites us all to come unto him and he will make our burdens light AS we take upon ourselves his yoke.  Right then a huge burden hit me like a pile of bricks.  I sat there for a second thinking, 'man, I thought coming to Christ meant the burden would get lighter' but then I remembered a good lesson one of my missionary friends Elder Beers wrote to me about a man who was asked by Christ to move a boulder.  The man and Christ worked together for a little bit to move the giant rock, and then Christ left him for a time on his own to push the rock.  After years of pushing the rock alone Christ came back to the man to see that he had nearly given up.  The man asked Christ why he left him to be alone, and why he couldn't have come to help him.  Christ then told the man to stop and look at himself.  The man realized he had become big and muscular, and strong.  Christ told him again to move the rock, and finally it moved.  The burden is meant to keep us going.  Just like in Elder Bednar's talk from a while back.  Don't remember what it's called.

Anyway, Love y'all have a great week.

Ældste Pitcher

November 24, 2014

Hej Far og Mor :)

I'm going to start off by saying that I'm really thankful to the Lord that Elder Lester has another turn here in Helsingør. We've been seeing so many good things happen over just the past few short weeks, and we're happy to get the opportunity to work together, especially now with the Christmas season approaching.

Last year in Frederiksberg we had the whole ward in with us on giving referrals to their friends of people we can go caroling to. It lead to many referrals and finding a lot of people, and Elder Lester and I already have the plan in action for this year. I love the Christmas season! It's a time when people's hearts are softened and more willing to listen.

Elder Lester and I have already started to experience this. I've had a few wonderful experiences with contacting people recently, and I know that it's because they're being prepared to hear about the glad message. I was also excited to be a part of 'M's baptismal service,

a recent convert in the ward Elder Enniss taught. It was great to see the kind of changes that people are able to make in their life, and then to be a part of the circle for giving the gift of the Holy Ghost for the first time was a sweet experience. 

It's especially sweet to see the change that 'V' (who we actually call 'H', pronounced like 'vipsah' actually means wasps in Danish, but she doesn't like her name...)  has made in her life.  I hope I can be here to see her make the step to be baptized.  She's ready, but hesitant. 

In any case, it's been great to be a part of seeing her change, and I feel blessed just to be in this area right now. 

On another note, Elder Lester and I went to a Jehovah's Witness meeting this week.  That was pretty interesting, but the girl who brought us wasn't at all willing to even listen to our message after we went to their meeting, so that's the end of the line there.

Another fun experience was a sweet old woman that I contacted on the train and had a nice conversation with before she got off at her stop.  While I was smiling to myself thinking about what a nice lady she was, the woman across the aisle told me to look out the window to see that the woman was showing her grandson, about my age, and almost my same dimensions, where I was sitting on the train, and then got a big old grin on her face and started waving when she realized I saw her :) 

Those little conversations always make me feel like I'm doing a good work, even if people aren't always willing to listen to everything I have to say, they know that I care about them, and it makes me feel good.

I'd really love to incorporate the 10 things I'm thankful for idea.  I actually already have the ten things I'm thankful for from the gospel.  I use it as a contacting technique so that as I am talking about everyday life things with people, I can remember to apply those things to bear testimony of things that actually mean something to me.  That's also a good way to use those points once you have them written down *hint hint* ;) 

I love you both, and hope y'all have an amazing week :)

Ældste Pitcher

November 17, 2014

Hej Mor og Far!  :)

I did get my camera.  It's great, I'll be sending pics from it in just a minute. 

Good to hear that you've gotten in touch with the Lester family.  I've heard so many great family stories, and they seem like wonderful people. 

It's funny you mentioned the bible dictionary's definition on prayer ma, that's something Pres. Sederholm talked about not too long ago in a training, and something that I felt really hit me.  Repitition breeds importance I guess :) 

It's great to hear about all of the support with Corbin's surgery.  He's pulling through like such a champ :) 

I love the idea of sending some stuff home for Christmas.  I also like the idea of having some extra money to buy things for Christmas.  To be honest, I've turned into a bit of a shopper, so some money to buy a nice Danish sweater, and maybe some new slacks would be awesome :)  The trends here are great.  As far as other stuff just from home goes ... I think I'm doing pretty good with everything.  I'll get back to you on that. 

It's great to hear how the hockey is going!  I also got to hear from Nick Fornelius just today, and I must say, I'm missing it a lot.  Tough to be in a Scandinavian country in the winter where it seems so natural to be out on the ice, and not be able to go.  Maybe we can get some kind of district activity here going.  Elder Enniss, my good friend from the MTC is actually the district leader here now!  It's going to be a great transfer. 

Here's a little from my week.

Looking back, I feel good about this my first transfer in Helsingør. Ældste Lester showed me some of his previous planners with all of the key indicators tallied up, and I've decided from that alone we've made a contribution to this area. It's also presented some things for us to work on, and I'm looking forward to one more go of it while Elder Lester is still here.

This week we had an awesome experience with ‘V’. At the beginning of the week she was having a rough time and asked us to come by to give another comforting blessing.  ...

NOTE:  I have decided to summarize what followed in Teagan’s email by saying that ‘V’ had a very personal spiritual confirmation of the truthfulness of the things she was taught.  I feel that the details are too personal to be posted on a public blog without her consent. Suffice it to say that it was a wonderful missionary experience.

This is such an exciting time to be in Helsingør!

We also had another fun experience when trying to meet with a less active that we've had a REALLY hard time getting an appointment with. Turned out though that the member we had was confused with the time we gave him over the phone and wasn't going to be able to meet, so we were going to have to cancel. Not if I had anything to say about it though! I started talking with every man that was on the street, trying to get them to help us out for just 10 minutes so we could at least hold some kind of meeting with this woman. The third man finally said yes! The fun part though was that he only spoke English since he was from Romania :P

We went ahead and met with the woman, and could tell that the man was getting increasingly uncomfortable as time went on. He finally got up and told us he had to leave to catch a train. So we ended with a prayer and left.

To us though, it was a success, and an opportunity to meet, and make another appointment with this woman that had been so difficult to get a hold of. She was pretty impressed with our diligence as well, so we felt good about it in the end even if the meeting wasn't very long.

Going back to the experience with ‘V’ though.  I had a moment earlier this week when it all just kind of clicked with the nickname the Dalberg's have given me.  They give all of their missionaries nicknames, and one night when ‘L’ saw me come into the room he 'switched' up my name to 'Switcher' instead of Pitcher, and the name stuck, as I'm sure ‘V’ told you. 

My nickname started to make more sense though after this week. Missionaries have been going there for quite a while now, and from what Elder Lester was saying, there hasn't been a lot of progression in her desire to learn up to this point.  In the Gospel we are always changing, always repenting and getting better, 'switching' old behaviors to new ones.  The nickname is one of the sweetest I have, and one that I'll never forget.  I'm happy every day when I remember that I get to be this family's 'Switcher'.  I'm loving it here.

Have a great week!

Ældste Pitcher

November 10, 2014

Wow, what a week. We just got transfer calls, and I'm staying with Elder Lester!! I must say I feel like it's exactly what I needed personally from this upcoming transfer. There are a few things to come in the next few weeks that I honestly feel like only Elder Lester can do. I'm really looking forward to spending another transfer with him, and to having one of my absolute favorite missionaries, Elder Enniss, as my new district leader. He's a true friend to me, and I've already learned so much from him. This is going to be a great transfer.

There were some great appointments this week, also some sad ones, but we feel good about the outcome as a whole. ‘S’, a recently reactivated member of our ward is still working hard towards his temple goal with his wife, and hasn't smoked at all this week! Elder Wawro and I, during splits on Tuesday evening, got the chance to teach ‘S' daughter ‘N’ for the first time. It went really well, and ‘S’ told us today she would like to come to church sometime with him. We just need to find a Sunday when she won't be with her mom.

Elder Lester and I have also been working a lot on our finding techniques, and have increased our courage putting faith in Christ to find. It's been great to see how many more people have been open to talking with us, even if we didn't reach our goal for new investigators this week. I'm still loving it here in Helsingør, and I had a good week. 

Some other fun stuff. When I was on splits with Elder Wawro (Zone leader)  we had a cat come into our apartment from the roof top, so we got some pictures with it ;)  That was fun.  Elder Lester and I cut down a Christmas tree, I'll try and get some pics sent by next week ;)  ‘V’ also made us some handmade stockings with her nicknames for us on there, and a Christmas countdown calendar which is huge here, with tons of gifts.  I love that family. 

I found a bicycle that I'm fixing up, and thinking about selling my old one since I've had so many problems with the small tires and them going flat :P  It's great for city life, but not a good everyday-missionary-use-back-trails kind of bike.  We'll see. 

We had the turkey bowl this week for our zone activity, and it was such a blast.  Playing football with these missionaries is honestly one of my favorite memories of zone things, and this one just added to it. 

The talents that were shared were also awesome.  A few REALLY funny skits that should be posted up on the mission blog.  One of Elder Warwo (the missionary I was on splits with) doing a 'polish-mexican folk dance' and also one of Elder Jewkes and Elder Wright and Elder Hafen, and Elder Wright's trainee Elder Carroll all doing a sing/dance along to an efy song.  My face hurt so much from laughing. 

I was trying to prepare a skit, but we ran out of time, and were a little busy.  Still a lot of fun though.  My face hurt so much from laughing :) 

We had stake conference just recently, and I got to see the Jepsens, and Amy Wood!  It was awesome to see some old friends from the Frederiksberg ward, and especially to see a friend from back home, and to speak Danish with her.... That was weird haha!

We had to take off early from the zone activity to get to our appointments, so Elder Warwo and I were not in the pictures :(  I was way bummed about that. 

‘V’ had some really tough family struggles come up the past few days, and she's pushed back her stop smoking day until there is a little bit more peace at home... It's tough, but I understand where she is coming from. 

President said it’s fine that I practice, but it isn't practical to carry a drum around with me (obviously) so I just need to be ready if the opportunity presents itself, then I can let him know and we can try and set something up with Elder Gudmundson and I.  It's not super likely, but I'd like to be ready in any case :) 

There has been a real focus in our mission on finding people to teach.  I've been trying to enhance a few certain talents more and more.  Some like the crafts and knitting things, but also using my personality more to reach people just like Dad talked about.  I actually set a new years goal this last year of enhancing/making new talents, and it's really helped in my missionary work.  I felt like it was a bit of personal inspiration. 

Please keep the ‘D’ Family in your prayers.  They have been going through some rough stuff over the past few days, and they need the extra prayers.

I love you both!

Ældste Pitcher

November 3, 2014

Hey Ma and Pa!

We had a few amazing experiences this week.  I've never given so many blessings in a transfer.  It's incredible to see the amount of good a priesthood blessing can do, and it's strengthened my faith immensely in the power of the priesthood. 

Early this week our friend ‘V’ had been stressing out a lot with some family problems, a son dealing with depression, and preparing a daughter for a big trip coming up.  We offered a blessing and though only knowing a little bit about priesthood blessings, she accepted without hesitation. 

At the appointment Elder Lester offered a comforting blessing, and ‘L’, her husband, though an atheist, even agreed to stay in the room.  When the blessing was finished everyone sat very still for a minute, and I could tell that something struck a chord. 

Later she texted us and said she had felt like it was a 'huge hug' and that she was going to quit smoking!  She set Sunday as her final day for smoking (yesterday) and asked if we would give another blessing to get things off on the right foot. 

After the blessing yesterday though something else happened that was just like what happened with Sis. ‘S's blessing.  ‘V’ had me come over and just put one hand on top of her daughter's head.  I felt a rush of comfort coming from the connection, and right then ‘V’ asked 'can you feel that?'  to her daughter, and rather than asking what she meant, she replied 'what is that?'  ‘V’ said she could feel the 'energy' coming from me today, and explained that to her daughter as well. 

The beautiful fall forests

The 'energy' they could feel was the priesthood, and had nothing to do with what I was doing, it was just incredible to see that they could recognize it even just through the placing of the hands on the head. 

There are still obviously some things that still need to be explained, and steps that need to be taken, but I feel like this family is just on the edge of great things.  I'm so lucky to be here at this time. 

Some other fun things that happened: Elder Lester and I found a free, brand new stationary bike out on someone's front yard.  It was so nice I made sure to double check with the lady that it was ok for us to take.  It's a great work out, and now allows one of us to do cardio while the other one can do other exercises all in one convenient location!  :) 

I also picked up knitting from ‘V’ this week, and she's got me knitting a scarf :)  I get lots of weird looks on the trains, but it's already sparked some casual conversation since it's so weird to see a teen boy knitting, so I've got a great new contacting strategy ;) 

‘R’ is doing awesome!  Still off alcohol, and working towards the first Sunday in December to come to church. ‘O’ is still being taught, was supposed to take us to church this week but bailed, we're also teaching his wife now. ‘S’ is also going to get married here, and then we'll have just one more hurdle before he can set a baptismal date that he's so excited for.  Still having a lot of fun here!

I've been telling everyone today in my emails about how crazy it is that everyone will continue to grow even until the time when I get back.  It's great to see the progression, it's just weird to think I won't be coming home to the same old family.  Then again, I've grown with you, so the change can't be too bad, and it's mostly exciting. 

Change is something that I feel like I've actually really come to love since being on my mission.  If things aren't constantly changing, then there is never an opportunity for improvement, and that's what God's plan is all about. 

I asked President today about the drum, we'll have to just wait and see. I'll be sure to keep sending pics.  I love y'all.

Ældste Pitcher

October 27, 2014

Hey, I need y'all to send me some drum scores!!  I don't know if Pres. Sederholm would allow it, but I'll ask him this week about getting something together with Elder Gudmundson for a zone talent show coming up, so I'd like to at least be practicing if the opportunity presents itself :) 

I haven't done the wreath class yet... If I do it will probably be in the future though so I'll let you know :)  I'm so happy to hear about everything in the family and back home.  I know that my family is being blessed because of my missionary service. I just wish I was there to partake of it a little bit! ;)  Aunt Val is in my prayers, and I'm really glad to hear that you have that opportunity to go with her for the first time.  Elder Lester and I got to go to the temple this week as well, since we took an 'essentials p-day' and went down to Copenhagen on Friday. 

Silver Boy at Helsingor Harbor

I didn't get pictures though. I know you probably want to beat some sense into me, but in my defense my camera was broken, and the thought didn't occur until later anyway.  So sorry again.  I'll repent and be better one of these times :P 

Here's kind of how my week went:

This was a wonderful week in Helsingør for teaching.  We know we still have a lot to improve on, but we are really working hard, and we've been seeing success, and progression in those whom we teach.  ‘V’ was in church this week, and even talked a little about her own new found faith in Christ in guest class!  ‘R’ has completely stopped drinking and even agreed to a date when he would come to church for the first time in a very long time. 

We also just recently started teaching another man named ‘O’.  He's a Jehovah's Witness, but surprisingly open to hear about our church.  We have met with him twice now, and he has already started talking with his family about the Book of Mormon, and was upset when he told us he gave away his only copy for his sister to read!  We have plenty of Romanian Books now, and he says to bring everything we can for himself, and for the family members he would like to share with.  The lessons with him right now are a little all over the place, but we've seen improvement in the concepts he is grasping. 

Elder Lester and I also were able to attend the temple this week on Friday.  It was an uplifting experience, and something that I feel both Elder Lester and I really needed. 

Afterward we went by the office to pick up our Romanian books, and pamphlets and I could tell that there was something up.  I greeted all of the office missionaries, and talked a little bit about how I missed being in Copenhagen so I could see them all more often. 

Before we left we asked if there was anything we could do for them before we headed out to get some lunch on the way home.  Sister Hamblin looked at Sister Swena, then at us, and asked if we would be willing to give Sister Swena a blessing. 

Beautiful Helsingor

I'm not sure if you've heard about this yet or not, but it was a comforting experience.  After gathering in an office we said a prayer and gave sister Swena an anointing and blessing.  She could probably better tell you how the experience was, but what struck me the most was what Sister Swena said to us on our way out.  She said "thank you both for being worthy of your priesthood, I could feel it through the blessing."  

That hit me right between the eyes.  I always knew it was important to be worthy to properly administer to others, but for them to be able to RECOGNIZE any kind of difference made me realize that I always want to live worthy of that privilege.  Needless to say, I had a good week, and I'm still loving it here. 

‘V’ just came and surprised us at the library.  She said that she sent mom a friend request on facebook, so go check for that, she wants to send you some pictures :)  It might be good to just drop her a note as well to say thanks for taking care of us. 

We are with the ‘D’ family a lot, and they really do take care of us. 

Love you both!

Ældste Pitcher

October 20, 2014

Hey Mom,

I promise I didn't forget your birthday, I figured I'd just save the B day greetings for the P day that was closest.  Looking back now though, I should've done it last chance I had to email.  Hope you don't mind.  Happy Birthday!!  :)  I'm glad you enjoyed the tag.  I was going to put a note with it, but it was really rushed/ I didn't think of that until Breanna (that's weird to say) told me to at zone training and didn't have time to ;)  I'm glad you got to meet some of the missionaries.  They are a good feel for just the caliber of missionaries that this mission produces.  They are all fantastic, and especially those you sent pictures of :)  

Go ahead and just buy the camera and ship it to my address.  It's:     Belvedervej 52. 2, 32

                                                                                                             3000 Helsingør DK

Let me know if there are any other problems you have with it, and maybe I can just find one here.  I just feel like I'm always way too busy to look around for anything like that so this way seems easier, but let me know.  

Here's how my week went... It's been a pretty exciting week here in this part of the country.  Last Monday Elder Lester and I went to our investigator 'V's house so that I could get my hair cut.  It was the first time I got the experience of teaching as someone else cut my hair.  It was a great lesson and she accepted the challenge to pray for an answer if Jesus really is the Christ (since after using the baptismal questions we realized we needed to start right from the beginning).

Fast forward to splits on Thursday and she got her answer, she knows Christ is her Savior.  I was ecstatic, and what was more, Elder Bradshaw and I had an incredible experience of our own happen the same day.  

While out knocking in Frederiksværk we knocked into a man that showed a lot of interest in the church.  He said he was busy at the moment, but told us he would really like us to come back, so we exchanged information and left to knock the next door.  After knocking the next door though Elder Bradshaw got a call.  It was 'F', the man we had just exchanged information with, and he wanted us to come back. 

Elder Bradshaw and I started to get anxious... We weren't sure what to make of this man telling us to come back.  When we got to the door he invited us into his house and had us make ourselves at home.  He went on to tell us that after we left he sat down alone in his house and felt suddenly awful telling us to come back later when he had time right then.  He felt prompted to call us back.  He added that he knew we were servants of Jesus Christ, and that he had a desire to come back to Christ, being religious himself, and knowing that the Savior had helped him through so many of his life struggles. 

I felt the prompting to tell him exactly what he needed to do to follow the Savior, and extended him the invitation to be baptized.  He said 'one day' and then started off into another topic.  We were running late to another appointment, but he said we could stop by at any time, and that he was willing to meet again. 

It was an incredible lesson, and experience for both Elder Bradshaw and myself.  Things like this always happen on splits. 

'V' also asked me to make a wreath for her out of branches from her front yard.  It actually turned out quite nice... And that's just the trouble ... Elder Lester is now showing everyone he possibly can and bragging about the stupid thing.  'A' (a Norwegian women in our ward) is even talking about setting something up with the relief society so that I can hold a class on it...  not that I'm not flattered, but.... Hopefully everyone just forgets the whole thing ;)  

I also found out that the girl that gave me her phone number at Matt Boulton's wedding reception is Elder Lester's ex-girlfriend's sister.. Ha!  It was a funny little connection.  I've had a pretty great week.

You are all in my prayers, I love you all so much!

Ældste Pitcher

October 13, 2014

Hey ma and pa

So I broke my camera..... :P  I biffed it on my bike and when my bag flew around I landed right on it.  The card is ok, and the camera still turns on, there is just something wrong with the lens or the screen or something because the options come up on the screen but there is no picture... Should I just buy a cheap new one?  I'm having Elder Lester take pictures of me in the meantime, but just let me know. 

I'm really excited that ya'll get to meet Sister Rogers... Or should I say Breanna... That's weird ;)  She is a great missionary, and was a lot of fun to be around.  Tell her hi for me. 

Oh yeah!  You guys are talking about ‘S’!  He's great, we actually just had our second appointment with him today.  There are just a few more hang ups, but he knows that this is what he needs to do.  Such an incredible story. 

His parents were members when he was young, he grew up in primary, then they separated, and he lost his way.  He had a crazy life style, but since finding the missionaries has made a complete turnaround in his life.  He is planning on getting baptized before the end of the year, and even sooner if he can get around this one last hiccup.  He plays in an ACDC cover band. He's just awesome :) I don't know about the meet the Mormons movie yet, but I'll be sure to ask at the next zone thing. 

So I've heard that this whole mission thing is supposed to go by a lot faster once you get to the year mark, and I must say, that now I understand why.  I am just trying as hard as I can to make sure that I'm always counting UP to 2 years, and never counting down from the half way mark. 

This week I got to go to a little moto cross thing for kids since my companion is so handy with that stuff and a less active in our ward's sons are really into it.  Basically all we did for an hour was pick little kids up out of the mud and get there bikes started again, but we had a lot of fun. 

We also had a humbling experience with contacting one man on the street who had just recently lost his wife earlier that week.  He wasn't able to understand much of what we were saying, only spoke a little Danish and no English, but he explained as best as he could in a thick Serbian accent that his wife had just recently passed away, and that his grandson down the street could help translate.  As we walked he burst into tears, and I got the strong impression to just put my arm around him.  We walked, and he talked about how sad he was, and I just reassured him that everything would be ok. 

When we got to the shop his grandson was at he started translating as we tried to tell him about the happy message we had that his wife would be with him again.  He wasn't interested in talking about anything religious, but he was grateful for the comfort. 

No big miracle story, but I felt better about myself after, and I could tell that it was what he needed at that moment. 

We also were contacted by a Jehovah's Witness missionary (not uncommon) to come to a bible study group.  I normally am not into going to those kind of things, but we decided we would try and see since we had recently contacted a JW couple who were interested in what we had to say, and figured there might be a good chance that they would be there. 

The JW's burned our appointment though. Turns out they don't really meet there when they say they do. Oh well, we might try back in a few weeks. 

It's been a great first week for me here in Helsingør! I'm loving my new area and my new companion and new people. I really felt like this fresh start in a new area was really good for me.

Elder Lester and I are working hard to make this a changed area. There seem to be a lot of old habits from previous visits that I'm starting to notice, and that we both want to change. I'm really looking forward to seeing the change in this area and myself over the next few weeks.

Love you both.

Ældste Pitcher

October 6, 2014

Hey Mom and Dad!

I'm in Helsingør! This is so crazy to be back on Sjælland. We got transfer calls on Wednesday so sorry you all didn't hear about it before. 

New address:

Belvedervej 52. 2, 32

3000 Helsingør

Hey, you should also at least get in contact with Sis. Rogers parents sometime later this week, because I sent home a small little token with her to give to you, and if you don't go you might be able to try and pick it up later. Just let me know.

I was happy to also find that my area is beautiful and my companion Elder Lester is awesome. I'm really looking forward to my time here.

This last week in Viborg Elder Pike and I had was good. In all honesty I don't know what more I can say than that. We finally met with good friend ‘K’ again, and it sounds like he's just been busy with work so hopefully things will start accelerating as we figure out his schedule a little bit better.

Other than that it was just a lot of goodbyes, and exchanges of gratitude with those that I've worked with for the past 5 transfers. I loved my time in Midtjylland, but as I mentioned before, I'm excited for the change.

I'm not really sure what else to think right now... I can see Sweden from this library, that's how close we are. Sorry though, there won't be a picture until next week because my camera died on the way down.  I'll be sure to send stuff next week to make up for it. 

I loved all the pictures this week!  Seems like the fam is getting along quite nicely, and I was happy to see that you ran into Miss at the game.  She really misses seeing you guys.  My new little nephew is such a stud! I'm so excited to meet all of the fresh faced little ones when I get back.  I love you both, and hope that y'all have an awesome week!

Ældste Pitcher

September 29, 2014

Hey MOM and DAD :)

Answering your question(s). I do still write people like Aunt Val and Bishop Donat... I haven't been so good to do it every week, and it's always just a couple pictures with a description so nothing big.

This week was pretty up and down. After a few appointments that went well on Monday, and then the amazing trip to Copenhagen and Fredericia (for Elder Pike), Elder Pike and I both ended up coming home with colds. Though it wasn't anything we couldn't work through it did show that we were feeling pretty exhausted after spending two nights in a row not in our own beds, and travelling sick. It didn't help either that many of our planned appointments fell through leaving us with much more open time to have to manage towards the end of the week.

'M' got sick and was unable to meet, and then 'K' our baptismal date told us he would be driving across Jylland for work for the next 4 weeks which was also kind of a bummer.

It was a week with really high highlights, and then it seemed as though we were pushing through brick walls for the rest of the week. In any case we got through it, and we have high hopes for next week so I know it's nothing we should be too worried about.

Elder Pike is coming to the end of the training program, and seems ready to take over the area.  We should be getting transfer calls here any second!  I'm expecting a new area here pretty soon so I'm looking forward to this quite a bit.  I hope they don't send a weinie to Viborg ;)  Just kidding, I have complete confidence in all of the missionaries I've ever met with in the mission.  We've got a wonderful group over here. 

We also held an English class this week.  A few people from Syria have been looking for an English teacher and through a friend they got to us.  I love teaching English, especially since I speak more Danish then Elder Pike because I get to teach the beginners, and it's a good little challenge, plus the people are always so gracious about everything.  It just makes you feel like you are making a difference in people's lives even past just telling others about the gospel. 

Bottom line, I'm happy.  The Copenhagen trip was awesome.  Going through the temple again was amazing, and I got to see the newest of the films which I was pretty happy about since it's pretty far between visits to the temple.  Overall a pretty good week :)

MTC District - one year

I'm glad you've commended me for my good picture taking because to be completely honest, and I'm sorry to say it, we didn't have time again in Copenhagen to get pictures :P  When we went to the temple we left our things in the church and I didn't have my camera, and then it was straight off to the trains when we did get back.. sorry.  I did get a few pictures though. 

I'm also happy to hear that you are getting more tech savvy.  That is a huge part of sharing the gospel that the church is just now starting to chart into, and it's incredible to hear about the amount of referrals that have started coming out since this part of the hastening of the work has been looked into. Keep it up! :) 

I didn't end up doing anything special for my one year mark, but I did get to talk with a lot of missionary friends for a long time on the way home so I consider that to be my present.  Sister Henderson (from my Group), and Sister Hale (served with me in Copenhagen) were both on the train back, so it was fun to catch up.  I really do have the best MTC Group. 
Everyone in the mission always talks about it, and we just kind of know it ;)  It was great to see them all again and how much they have grown as well.  They're all great leaders. 

Love you both!

Ældste Teagan Pitcher

September 22, 2014 - ONE YEAR!!

Hey! 

I included my note to Nana in an email to Brianna... :) 

I got the package.  It's incredible, I love everything in it, especially the Danmark jersey! 

I'm sure you'll have to remind me later about the memory thing for Mom's b day.  I'd like to take my time on it, so just remind me each week and I'll be sure to send it soon. 

Sister Rogers and Sister Hale

Sister Breanna Rogers is going home in October, somewhere around October 6th.  We're good pals so that would be a good one to go to :) 

That will be around transfers time and I should be leaving after 30 weeks in the Skive branch especially since I just trained, but you never know, we'll just have to see.  

Elder Pike and I seemed to have quite a good week. Though frustrating at times because there were many of our more promising investigators and less actives whom took some backwards steps, we were still able to pull things through and have a great week.

It's also been a great week for contacting. Elder Call and Elder Hafen were over for splits this week, and in the one afternoon we raked in 4 new potential investigators!

The rest of the week was great being able to be with the stake and fellow missionaries. I felt like I got a lot out of the messages that were taught, mainly that small details make big impacts, and that doesn't only mean for the impact I have on others, but also the impact I'm trying to establish in myself.

These past few weeks have been a large period of personal growth. I hope my trainee feels the same way :) I have really grown a lot from the training program, more so on this side of it than the other side at times. 

Something fun from this week.  We went as a district to the Mønsted limestone mines again.  It was a blast!  I'll be sending pics.  We also ended up riding our bikes back to Viborg.  It was a blast.  14 KM bike trip really ended off the activity on a good note :) 

I love you both so much, and I'm really happy to see that everything is going well with the shoulder, and the hockey, and the grandkids :)  I miss you both a lot.  Have an awesome week!  I'm sending pictures don't worry :)

Love

Ældste Pitcher

September 15, 2014

Here's my week....

We have been working really hard recently, and those people we have been looking for have finally started to come through in our weekly reports.

We set up a baptismal date with our new friend ‘KT’ earlier this week. He's a little bit crazy and all over the place, but he wants to follow Christ in whatever way he can, and was willing to give up smoking right away! We're excited to be a part of his progression.

We also were able to have a great law of chastity lesson with ‘M’ and ‘S’ this week. They both expressed that they knew that it was for the best, and talked about the blessings they knew would come from it. It was great to have them both participating so well. They are going to talk about it because we obviously can't make that choice for them (though I have thought that out in my head, and it looks pretty funny, 'will you marry him?' haha).

It also seems that we will be starting up another English class in this part of the country. A few recent friends of ours have looked to set something up. They are almost all from Syria, and we'll be teaching them English in the coming weeks.

Conquering the hill 4x per day!

Other than that, I'm really looking forward to yet another trip to Copenhagen! It will be good to reunite with the BEST MTC group in the mission again :) Also many great friends from the earlier group which is Elder Ogden's group.  We're going in for some sort of 1 year mark reunion.  I'm so excited!  Hopefully we'll actually get to do some touring around this time because we will be in the city for like 6 hours! :) 

Crazy to hear about everything that happened in St. George.  I forgot to mention this before, but Connor King's father also plays the bagpipes!  I couldn't believe I had forgotten to add that in.  I think he even knows how to play the chanter. 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the package, and want you to both know that I love you guys so much :)  Have an awesome week!

Ældste Pitcher