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 

Splits x3, Thanksgiving and the Spirit

Hollaaa! What's good everybody!?

I don't have too much time, so I'm gonna fly through this email.

I went on 3 splits/exchanges this week. It was tiring, honestly, but it kept things interesting and made the week go by quickly. I started off in Herning with Ældste Møller from Denmark. We had a cool experience where we were meeting with a girl who is about to start the mission process and her mom walked in and asked for a blessing. It was my first time meeting them. During the blessing, I felt the Spirit pretty strong and afterward the mom was like, "Wow. You don't even know me...." PRIESTHOOD POWER PEOPLE. Then, the day after, we headed south to Odense where I went on splits with Ældste Paulsen. Nothing too crazy there, just an eating appointment and some finding. We had a training at the Odense District Council. I was nervous at first because it was my first training as a zone leader, but all went well and it was a confidence booster. Then, I finished the week off in Aalborg with Ældste Cousins. We did some service and set up a lesson with an old friend I met on Facebook a while ago. We gave her a Book of Mormon in Nepalese and answered her questions about the church. It went pretty well. We're hoping to get her connected with the elders up there. 

On splits with Ældste Møller

Now for the whackest part haha. We were driving back from splits through Randers when we get a random call from a number we didn't recognize. So, we answered it, of course. The guy told us that his apartment was...well...haunted. And, he said that his son was seeing some funky things. I guess our new friend had met with missionaries before and had our number. He wanted a blessing for him and his son, as well as a dedication of his home. We found out on the phone that he is actually a less active member of the church. So, of course, we drove an hour out of our way and pulled up at his house. I was mega excited! I thought it would be fun...new experiences. The house seemed chill (in a good way). Didn't feel weird at all. But, the stories we kept hearing were something out of a horror movie, pretty freakyyyyy. When we went upstairs, it was colder and darker. It just didn't feel quite right. At this point, I wasn't so excited anymore. :) As we talked upstairs, I could see Elder Langmann getting a little more uncomfortable too, and then our new swaggy friend says, "Yeah, sometimes we feel like there's someone standing over there behind Elder Langmann."  At this point, Elder Langmann is like, "DUDE! I feel like there has been someone behind me the whole time!" Ya...that was a little too freaky haha. So, we blessed the house and our new friends and prescribed a heavy dose of scripture reading and family prayer.

Thanksgiving was great! We ate with a member family and they even made pumpkin pie! I felt so blessed and happy. They were awesome and their little daughter became my BFF. She was a sweetheart.

We had some other good appointments too. We worked with some less actives and gave blessings to more people in 1 week than I have in the last 16 months! Crazy town!

Have a fire week! I'm thankful for so much but especially for my mission and the learning experiences it provides!

Love from Grenå, Odense and Aalborg, 

Ældste Modersitzki 

With Ældste Langmann

With Ældste Cousins

Thorvaldsen Thanksgiving, Copenhagen Christmas

Tate in front of the Kristus statue

Hejjjjjjj! This week was so fun! I hope this email stays short because I want to tell so many stories. Let's get into it.

First off, I had splits with my boy Ældste Appleby and we had a good time in Aarhus. ALSO, am finally semi-legal in Denmark (long story) but I tried to get stuff done with becoming fully integrated into Danish government systems and all this stuff..... I was unsuccessful after 2 phone calls, a couple of in-person meetings and a couple of desperation calls to our immigration senior missionary..... Let's just say working with governmental stuff is hard.... both in the US and in Denmark. Shout out to Corona for making it even more difficult hahah.

Our church's logo

Our mission had a massive Thanksgiving party where we also celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of Thorvaldsen, the guy who sculpted the Kristus statue that the church uses as a logo. We woke up bright and early to make the ferry to Sjælland and drive the rest of the way.... Because of some complications, and address problems we missed the ferry and had to drive three and a half hours.... It was still fine but I was looking forward to the ferry.... Rip. BUT it worked out fine. At this party we got to go around sightseeing in Copenhagen and it was SO SICK. We were in little groups to keep Corona rules and I had my old friend Elder Farr with me and we just joked around the whole time. Copenhagen was straight up magical. Peep the pics. We watched the movie The Fighting Preacher and also learned about the history of the Kristus statue and how it applies to the church. That was sick considering that was part of the sightseeing tour.... Yeah, I've seen the real sculpture of the church's logo.... That's what's up. We also had some Thanksgiving food here in Denmark complete with turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce for dinner. It was so nice. I loved it. And I got to overnight with 5 other elders just outside of Copenhagen. It was a party. Day 2 was more trainings and that kind of stuff. It was cool to see all the missionaries together on Denmark with Iceland on Zoom. Denmark has like 34 missionaries, so it's not like it was a huge gathering, hahah. I said goodbye to my friends Ældste Farr and Ældste Peterson. They are both going home at the end of this transfer... Rip.

On the way back to my area the bridge was closed so we had to camp out for a sec... actually, it was more like an hour, and wait for it to reopen. Apparently the winds were too high.... So I got to chill with some other missionaries including Sister Marie Curtis! Shout out to Lone Peak. That was fun.

Going on splits with some of Tate's friends from Randers

Aarhus is still sick. Lessons this week were not the greatest, but we got to go on member splits and I was with one of my old friends from Randers. We had a great time together!

Today we went to the tallest point in Denmark! It's called Himmelbjerget! It honestly isn't that high... We went from the bottom of the hill to the top and I wasn't even winded, hahaha, but it was pretty!

Anyway, this email is longgggg, sorry. Love y'all lots. Have a good week!

Love from København (Copenhagen),

Ældste Modersitzki 

Statues of the Kristus and the 12 Apostles

The famous Nyhavn in Copenhagen

The tallest point in Denmark - Himmelbjerget.

I LOVE AARHUS + Baptism!

How is everyone doing? This week wasn't too jam packed, but it was a great week nonetheless.

Let me just say it again, I LOVE AARHUS. It's the dopest city ever! There are so many young people who will talk to us a little more and the architecture is wonderful as well. The apartment is bomb. I've told my companion Ældste Langmann I love Aarhus like 8 times a day. He might be sick of it buttttt I'm not hahah.

So 8 months ago I taught a man named Niels in my second area, Randers. He has been taught continuously for the last couple of months and he was baptized yesterday! And because I'm in Aarhus, we also cover Randers! So I got to go back and be a witness to his baptism! I was so stoked. Seeing the branch again was great too! There are lots of good people over there. And luckily, we get to go back every other week! I'm a lucky and blessed missionary!

This week we have a conference in Copenhagen with all the mission and I'm stokkkkked out of my mind for it. I get to give a little Thanksgiving speech too.... So an adventure awaits, hahaha.

A quick spiritual thought comes from Alma 26:2, a short but sweet verse. "And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?" We have been given all that we need in this time by a living God. When times are tough, look for blessings. The question "Can ye tell?" has affected me a lot this week. It's made me rethink if I'm looking for God's blessings and acknowledging Him in every good thing. Soooo of course I challenge everyone to do the same. Can't you tell what blessings God has given you? Have you thanked him for it?

Love y'all! I'm doing great!

Love from Strøget,

Ældste Modersitzki

PS I buzzed my head