Big pastry vibes

Davs! Big shout out to everyone that still reads this! Hahah! Love y'all!

This week was wild! I feel like I say that every single week now, BUT IT'S TRUE! Things go crazy and our days get busy and I love every second of it! Let's start off the email right and talk about food, hahahah the GOAT! We snagged some sushi this week to celebrate the New Year! We meant to do that literally 2.5 weeks ago, but our schedule has been so crazy since then that we never got around to it. It was FIRE. My chopstick skills are rather rusty, but that's chill. It gave me something to practice. This was the first time I've had sushi since last February, so I was HYPED!

We were on some back-to-back splits with the office elders and Facebook tech elders and we grabbed some kebab. You gotta experience the whole Danish life, right?? That's the big focus for the next 6 months, because that's all I have left..... six months. I can't believe it at all. I am really trying my best to soak in these last months and work myself as hard as I can. That's what's good right now. No time to waste and too many pastries to eat. I've had 4 pastries in the last 7 days hahahah. Such a W. They tasted so nice. I've had 2 of the best pastries I have ever had my whole time here. It is the little things that make life way happy.

We led two zone conferences this week. They went pretty well. We got blindsided and had an extra 10 minutes that we needed to fill both times, so we improvised way hard and it all worked out. It was all about embracing Danish and our mission culture to become happier as a missionary. We really showcased how cool it is and how rare it is for us to be here. I think it went over well! I love my mission and have really embraced everything in this country. It has helped me a lot. I LOVE IT HERE!

We also did some boring AP stuff, but we got a free tour from President Olsen of his new house. That was hype. There is still snow here over everywhere that isn't a big city so it is BEAUTIFUL here right now. We have a little ledge right outside our window that was covered in like 4 inches of snow so we made a little snowman! Check the pics down below!

Some fun facts:

- Danishes don't actually exist. There isn't a pastry called a danish in Denmark. It is called a spandauer here.

- Danes speak Danish, not Dutch. The movie The Best Two Years was not filmed here and is not based off of anything Danish-related.

- Colorful houses are in fact very Danish. They look even better in the snow.

That's about all I can think of right now. Hope everyone has a great week!

Love from København,

Ældste Modersitzki

Jylland tour featuring EFY bops and snow

Ældste Ngatikaura, Ældste Mod, Ældste Madsen
& Ældste Laurence in the SNOW!

Howdyyyy y'all! This week was a MASSIVE road trip for both myself and Elder Madsen! We ended up traveling roughly 1,000 kilometers aka from Utah to LA... so that was wild. I think I might have all the EFY songs that Elder Madsen has on his phone memorized. We were blaring them the whole time, we stay lit. 

We were on a big Jylland splits tour where we held splits with every single missionary in Jylland, aka the part of Denmark that's connected to Europe. It was lots of fun, I got to work with a lot of fun elders that I knew before and were companions with. We had a good time with all of the missionaries making donuts, having snowball fights and helping them with whatever they needed. I loved seeing a bunch of my old areas too, and it was a massive plus to grab some Burger Shack. Love that place!

It finally snowed and this Scandinavian country somehow turned into a winter wonderland! I have been waiting for this for the last 17 months! It didn't snow and stick at all last year, so I was stoked that it stuck this year. I was also in the most northern area in Denmark, my old home of Frederikshavn, and we got about 2 or 3 inches! That is a ton for Denmark hahah! It was great and honestly made me so happy. I also got to visit some friends, a lady I taught, and my friend Grazyna, who I helped teach and baptize. It was wonderful to finally see them again. I will say though, I was tired and ready for my own bed by the time we got back to Slagelse.

Church here is still online. We held it with some members and got to eat lunch with them and partake of the sacrament. It was a wonderful cleansing experience and I enjoyed it so much. I even got to try some pig neck. That was a first...but I am not one to shy away from a challenge, hahah!

We had a couple of lessons mixed in this week where we read the Book of Mormon with 2 of our friends. They are doing well and we were able to answer some of their questions and concerns, which I always love to do.

Gotta admit, I fell behind in the Journal and 90-day Book of Mormon Challenge this last week. I'm excited to get back on track though. I have seen this help my understanding and testimony much more than I could have imagined. Love that book!

Love from literally the entire eastern and middle part of Danmark,

Ældste Modersitzki

The happiest missionary because of the snow.

Tate with his good friend, Grazyna.

Soul, New Years and false doctrine

Howdy everyone! I don't have much time because I like talking to my fam more than writing emails, so I will keep this short!

This week flewwwwww, but we love that as missionaries. We had a big conference for the mission this week where we all met as districts and then zoomed into each other. We gave a training and it was honestly kinda weird because I didn't know if I should look at my district in front of me or the camera hahah but it went pretty well. I just got to flex how cool my dad was to my mission because he is a massive example of letting God prevail. So that was sick. We had some tech difficulties and that was rough, but it all worked out, we just needed to improvise a little bit. We also had our new mission president announced to us! I will only serve with him for like 3 weeks, which is so crazy to think about, but it was still cool.

After the conference, we had Danish Christmas food prepared by some members and it was fire, then we had one of the most exciting moments of the mission! We watched a Disney movie! We are only allowed to do that 2 times a year so that was hypeeeee. We watched the new Soul movie and it was honestly pretty good! The next real movie I see will be when I am home.... That's kinda weird to think about honestly.

We had a cool little interview lesson with this one guy, we had a member with us too (yay!).... let's just say I learned a lot of new things during the lesson. :)  Not the most standard lesson we've ever taught; can't say with surety that our guy will be coming back to meet with us again.... But it was mostly a school project so I am not too surprised there. We chatted about how Muhammad is a prophet of God, but in a slightly different way than Islam believes in him.... it was news to me.....

New Year's was cool. We had an eating appointment with a less active and her brother that we are teaching! It was a laid back good time. We switch between Danish and English and then occasionally Greenlandic.... I don't understand that part. But it is wild to follow these convos and have my brain go from English to Danish every other sentence hahah. That night, we had food dropped off to us by our wonderful mission leader and we chilled. Happy New Year from Denmark! (They start fireworks the day before so we could get some pics earlier in the day, it's nearly 24 hours straight.)

Overall, it was a good week! Next week, we drive all around Jylland and that should be fun going on splits with everyone over there. I'm looking forward to seeing some of my past areas! We started the 90-day Book of Mormon challenge and something I am starting to realize is that Nephi is a real bro. He had his doubts and struggles and he is actually relatable. I have also come to realize that when I am teaching people out of the Book of Mormon after reading with them, I am way more Spirit-led than when I am reading by myself. It actually teaches me more when I am the one teaching! Gotta love it!

Love from Korsør,

Ældste Modersitzki

Merry Jul from the land of the Danes

Heyyyyyoooo! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to y'all! This will be my last Christmas season in Denmark which is way sad honestly. I am going to miss this place baddddd.

This week hasn't been too insane for the most part. Christmas celebrations were in full swing, and Danes were very much inside all week. That being said, Elder Madsen and I got a break on Christmas Eve and we tossed around a football in the park for a while. It was refreshing. It was the first time doing that since July. We also were able to eat with some members in our ward and some of their friends. The whole ward spoiled us with a lot of presents. I was very thankful for that. I felt more at home. The chocolate we got from home and from members was eternal..... I think I am looking a bit.... thicker. Gotta hit the workout grind. lol.

We made some massive breakfasts for the 24th and 25th. Honestly, it was a big power move. Tasted way nice. Check the pics for details hahaha.

We ate with some super nice non-members and a less active and her daughter. Playing games and chilling with them was so fun. I won bingo by the way. Copped a W over a 4 year old hahaha. After that, we called home and that was great. I loved talking to my family and my grandparents. It was definitely a highlight! 

On the 26th, we ate with another member family as well. The ward here is great. We just chilled and played games with them for a while. We really connected to the younger kids there. We had some fun playing with them. When we left, one of the kids said he just felt like he could talk to us so easily and that we were his friends. That was a way sweet moment.

We had online church for the first time in a while.... That was odd, I like in person better. Other than that, I can't remember too much of the week. It's been a good one, went by fast. Time is flying.

I'm very thankful that I can serve and preach during a season meant to celebrate our Savior. The most wonderful time of the year for sure.  

I LOVE DENMARK!

Love from Kalundborg,

Ældste Modersitzki

Baptism by PowerPoint and LOTS of Driving

Howdy! This week was.... something new for me.  Like the title of the email says, this week was, in it's own way, baptism by fire... Neither myself or Ældste Madsen have any idea what we are doing.....so we have been making PowerPoints, trainings, Google sheets and all that kind of busy work to prepare for Mission Leadership Council which we had last Saturday.... Man there is a lot more busy work than I initially thought with this whole AP business.

But, there are also some MAD perks. We got to spend a day in Copenhagen! Let me explain. Our mission got new sisters this week!!!! These are the first reinforcements we have gotten since June/July and the mission has like 0 missionaries right now. And we got to pick them up from the airport! They were delayed too... so we got a day in Copenhagen... kinda. We still needed to do some office work and fix Ældste Madsen's phone, so it worked out pretty well. We chilled outside the airport for an hour in just our suits. It was freezing! What an experience lol. We had a little conference with all the sisters in the mission, and that went well too.

Another part of the job is to figure out solutions for problems that come up in the mission, and the big one this week was that the sisters arrived, but their baggage was in Russia. It came a couple of days later and we had to head to Copenhagen and pick it up, then drive it over to them on the other side of the country. Keep in mind that we live an hour outside of Copenhagen. So we had a quick little 8-hour car ride the other day playing taxi for some suitcases hahaha. But BIGGGG shoutout to the Sønderborg sisters. They grabbed us a shake and a McFlurry from McDonalds.... blessings right there.  We got home a little late from that drive as you can imagine. I whipped the whole way and it made me think of road trips with friends to Oregon and California. Good times. Rough amount of time spent driving this week: 20 hours.

Good news: Mission Leadership Conference went great and I felt like our trainings and PowerPoints were appreciated. The learning curve is still gnarly, but we are improving every day. Plus, we have a few friends we are teaching. One of them is WAY ready for baptism, but has a couple of fears that we are working with right now. She bore testimony of the Book of Mormon to us and it was POWERFUL. She will get baptized, I am sure of it. 

We went to this way sick bridge that we crossed a couple times this week. It's the bridge between Sjælland and Fyn. I think it is one of the longest in the world. So that is sick. We were right under it and got some pics too. Honestly, it was a great spot.

Sorry this email was boring, but I have a lot to look forward to this next week with Christmas and some other stuff! Remember to keep Christ at the center of both Christmas and your own life. Glædelig Jul from Denmark! Love you all so much!

Love from Storebælt broen,

Ældste Modersitzki

0-100, real quick

Howdy folks! Christmas is coming and I am PUMPED! It will be so awesome! I have some WILD news for the week, hahah! Stay tuned for it!

I went on splits again this week with Elder Leland! We had a great time as we reminisced about Frederikshavn. Then we had district meeting with our district in Herning. It was great seeing them all. We had a blast! Elder Leland heard a rumor that the best pastries in Denmark are in Esbjerg, and so we had the sisters down there buy us some and bring it to the meeting. We paid them back, don't worry. The pastries were fire. Then we got the news that district councils cannot be held in person anymore.... as we were sitting there in person... hahah. We got lucky!

This last week flew. We had a couple of teaching appointments too, so that helps. We taught a newly baptized member and her non-member husband. The lesson went well! We had a member with us and it was after an eating appointment, so it was just overall a big W. We also taught a referral from the sisters in Roskilde on the street, by a garbage can, outside a fast food place haha. It actually went pretty well and he was down to hear more later. He also took a Book of Mormon. What more can I ask for?

We had transfer news hit us this week. It hit me like a TRUCK! I am transferring AGAIN, to a new city called Slagelse! My new companion is Elder Madsen who is an absolute homie! AND we are going to be serving together as APs...... Who would have guessed? I did not see this coming because I had only been Zone Leader for 5 weeks. President Olsen took it from 0-100 real quick. I am SUPER sad to be leaving Aarhus. There are a lot of members there that I was just getting to know and love. But I know that God has a plan and that I am supposed to be serving here, with Elder Madsen, with the calling I have. It will be an adventure. We are both Whitewashing APs and have no idea what's going on. It will surely be a good time.

Because we are APs now, that means that we get to send off the departing missionaries at the airport and chill with them the day before, so I got to be with Elder Farr, Elder Peterson and Sister Hepworth for a decent bit of Monday. It was fun to see them and overnight at the mission home. We stayed up too late talking to them and then had to wake up at 3:45 a.m. to make it to the airport on time. I was wrecked the day after hahaha. But it was cool to send them off.

Also, a super nice member bought us a little Christmas tree in Aarhus so we pimped out our apartment! It was dope!

I think that is all for this last week!

Love from Slagelse and the Copenhagen Airport,

Ældste Modersitzki 

Good times, no such thing as tan lines

Howdy! This week was a great week honestly! It was super dark. I don't remember ever seeing the sun, but we are popping vitamin D pills daily. Swiped on those this week. They make a big difference, not gonna lie. It also started snowing. It didn't stick at all, but I was stoked about it.

This week we had some eating appointment mayhem. We were out with one of my fav families out here with a newly baptized member, her husband and our member friend. The kids had been running around a little and after our lesson, as we were getting up to go, this little sweet girl walks up to her mom and just pukes straight out on the floor. It. Was. A. Shocker. I was standing there in disbelief honestly hahah. Good times though. The lesson went pretty decent, even with that. 

I was able to go on splits with one of my good homies out here named Ældste Brown. It was so fun and we get along great! We were out contacting with a member one afternoon and it was one of those days where we were just getting cussed out like nobody's business. The member we were with is gearing up to start mission papers.... Don't worry though, she still wanted to go on a mission after all that. Glad she got a realistic experience. She's a homie. That night Ældste Brown and I dipped over to a less active family he knew while he was here. We had a great evening with them and helped them set up their Christmas tree as well. Honestly, it was lots of fun. And to put the icing on the cake, they even came to church this week! So big W! Splits were so nice.

We also had splits with the APs. That was fun too. It's nice to see how other missionaries do things sometimes. It really gave me an opportunity to reassess some of my goals and recommit myself. (Not to mention we got Burger Shack. Always a W.)

We also dipped out to Randers one day for some service and member splits with my boy Mads. What a legend. We are absolute homies.

Also, big RIP to our mission conference... It got cancelled because of Corona. The country is going into a soft lockdown with no open restaurant seating or barbershops or anything, soooo buckle up hahaha. It's all good though. I'm doing fine.

Good times this week. The cold and darkness can't get to me when I'm out focused on Christ. I can guarantee you guys that. A quick spiritual though this week is John 12:46. "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness." I love when Christ is represented as a light. It's so applicable in all times and situations. I also love the way the word "should" is used in this scripture. We should all be abiding in his light! Stay strong! Love all of y'all!

Love from Smilets By!

Ældste Modersitzki