Letter From Katherine - 12/09/2013

Hello my dear wonderful family!

last week we weren't able to go to the reindeer park because we ran out of time, but we are planning on going sometime this week. I will be sure and say hi to Rudolph for all of you:) I can't remember if I told you, but one of the less active members that we have been working with is amazing when it comes to knitting. She is knitting sweaters for Sister Packard and I, and I am pretty darn excited! last monday we were able to pick out the yarn, so that was kind of fun.

We had exchanges with the sister training leaders this week. Usually we go to their area in horsens, but this time they came to Esbjerg. We had a good time with each other. Wednesday we had the Christmas Relief Society dinner. It was a lot of fun, but i'm not going to lie, I can now say that I have eaten some nasty food. Pretty much everything I have ever eaten here in Denmark has been delicious...until that relief society activity. I don't even know what it was, but it was just bad. haha just thinking about it gives me the heebie jeebies.

Thursday we had our Christmas Zone training in Århus, it was combined with another zone so I got to see some missionaries that i haven't seen since the MTC. For the month's of November and December the mission has been studying Christ like attributes. President asked if I would speak at the training and share the experience I have had as I have tried te become more like the savior. Well before the training I had given the talk some thought, but it wasn't until the train ride to Århus that I actually prepared it. haha we just don't have very much time as missionaries! I felt very blessed though, because as I was preparing it on the train I felt like it just all came together very quickly.

So while we began our Christmas feast at the zone training, we received news that there was a huge storm coming and the trains would be stopping early. So some of the missionaries had to leave right then and there, while the rest of us would be staying in Århus or other nearby areas. I stayed the night in Århus so that was fun. The next morning we got ready for the day and got on the trains as soon as possible. I got the packages!!! thank you so much!!!! carrying them back to Esbjerg was quite the experience:) Sister Packard had her Christmas packages as well, so when we finally did make it back to Esbjerg we had no idea how we were going to get them back to our apartment. So what did we do? We used a grocery cart! Probably not the best idea, but there was no other way. haha The wind was blowing so hard and people were looking at us like we were crazy, but we got the packages to our apartment and of course returned the cart:) We both love the Christmas tree! It makes our apartment 1000 times better! Thank you thank you!  

Later that night there was another really big storm, but this time we were out riding our bikes in it. The wind was blowing so hard that we were pedaling our bikes and not even moving. It was quite the scene i'm sure. We were laughing so hard. So hard that I actually wet my pants. yep. I wet my pants! haha the smart thing to do at that point would have been to go back to the apartment and put on a different skirt. haha but after we pulled it together we just kept on trucking. Well after getting lost in the storm my bike chain fell off. So we walked the rest of the way to the member's house that we had planned to visit. There was a wet spot on my skirt from wetting my pants so I just kept my coat on. hahahah Well after we were done visiting that family we tried to fix my chain, but we just couldn't get it, so we called some other members to come and help us. About a minute before they showed up I fixed the chain! they wouldn't let us ride our bikes home though haha so they gave us a ride back to our apartment. long story short though, I wet my pants! I'm pretty sure I haven't done that since kindergarten. haha It was a crazy day.

Ana Marie and Min are doing great. Every time we meet with them it is just a wonderful experince. They are so ready to be baptized. Samantha and Mathew, their children, loved primary yesterday. They got to try on the nativity clothes. We took Bishop with us to one of the lessons we had with them last week and it was a really good experience. I think Bishop has been kind of hesitant with them because they don't speak Danish, and Min can hardly read English, but in the lessons he said that he could feel the spirit very strongly and that he knows they are ready to be baptized. Ana Marie and Min just radiate the light of Christ. It's hard to even describe. Words cannot even express how grateful I am to help them understand the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sonia was also in church yesterday for the first time. I think she enjoyed it. Today she texted us and aksed what chapter from the book of mormon we would be talking about next time we met so she could read it in advance. It's not very often that that happens:)

Yesterday our ward mission leader taught the gospel principles class. The lesson was on Jesus Christ and all that he did was show different pictures of the savior and then we would talk about each one. It was such a simple lesson, but the spirit was so strong. Especially when he showed the picture of Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus in the stable. If the spirit was that strong just by showing a picture, I'm sure the live nativity was a very neat experience. What a wonderful time of year we have to really focus on our Savior. I am filled with gratitude for the opportunity I have to help others feel of his light and love.

Thank your for all of your love and support. I love you so much and am looking forward to Christmas day when I can see and talk to you. Stay warm! and have a wonderful week.

Love Katherine

Hej med jer!!!! (Letter From Katherine - 12/02/2013)

Hello Family! 

Well another week has come and gone. I honestly can't believe how fast time is flying! Things are going really good here in Esbjerg. Saturday a man that the elders have been teaching was baptized. It was a very nice baptismal service. Sister Packard and I were able to play a musical number so that was fun. The elders also asked us to bring some refreshments so we made cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls are kind of a process, but it was fun to make them. 

So I'm not sure if you remember my email from last week, but I talked a little bit about going to visit a woman named Josephine. Well Josephine speaks Danish with a really strong african accent so she is really difficult to understand. When I was talking to her on the phone we both just started laughing because it was so hard to communicate. She was trying to give us her address and after about the tenth time of asking her to repeat herself I just did my best to write down what she was saying. Well, it was really cool because last monday night when we were getting ready to go visit Josephine in Varda we were trying to find a street name on the map that was as close to what I had written down. I looked at the map and the very first street I saw was hers. It was spelled completely different than what I had written down, but I knew it was hers. So we began our adventure to Varde. It kind of took a while to find where she lived, and the whole time we were both kind of hesitant that we even had the right street name, but sure enough it was her street and we found her! Josephine's boyfriend who is danish was there, and he helped Josephine better understand what we were saying. Turns out he is interested in learning about the church as well. Josephine is super spunky, but she's fun. 

Ana Marie and Min. oh how i love them! they are just so wonderful. We met with them a few times this week and on one of the days Min told us that he asked Ana Marie if she was getting baptized. She told him yes and then he asked her when she had decided that. She told him that she had decided a long time ago. Min told her that he had just decided the day before that he was going "to baptize." He can hardly understand the Book of Mormon, but he told us he knows it true. I just wish you all could meet them. Words can't even express how wonderful they are. I have had amazing, happy, experiences on my mission so far, but I can't even begin to express the joy I feel that comes from teaching Ana Marie and Min. My heart just swells at seeing them progress and watching their testimonies grow. When I first got here to Esbjerg they were both hesitant about the church, but now they told us that they are both ready to be baptized and that they are so happy. Ana Marie told us that the other day she and her friends were talking about religions and discussing the different religions that they were. Ana Marie told them that she was mormon, and after she told them that she said she just felt so happy. It has been such a neat experience seeing the Lord answer their prayers. He knows their situation so perfectly and he trusts them so much. I just could go on and on forever about them! They will be getting baptized the 14th of December.

Yesterday we at at the Bishop's home. IT was so much fun. We prepared dinner with them, ate, cleaned up together, and then had family home evening with them. Det var så hyggeligt! Bishop's parents are in the ward and his mom is like the danish equivalent of Roberta Young. It's crazy.

Today We are going to feed reindeer! They have a reindeer park here in Esbjerg and you can feed them!!!!!! There is also a less active member that we have been working with who is an amazing knitter. She told us that she would love to make us anything as long as we supplied the yarn, so today we are going to pick out the yarn and run it over to her. That should be fun. 

So yeah. IT has been another great week here in Esbjerg. It totally smells like fish sometimes, haha but it really is a dagligt by! 

Well, that's about it for the week. I'm glad you had a great thanksgiving. For some reason I thought it was last week. haha missionaries are just so out of the loop. I hope you have a wonderful week! I look forward to talking to you on Christmas! Love you!!!!!!!!!

Love Katherine

ps. some of the pictures are from Varde. It's just a little city here. They decorated it with elves. 

Hello my dear family! (Letter From Katherine - 11/25/2013)

It has been another great week here in Esbjerg. We have had some pretty amazing experiences.

We received a referral from the elders and Wednesday we went to contact her. We had the hardest time finding where she lived. I was kind of doubting that we would be able to find it. We had been biking for a good long while when I asked sister Packard if we could stop at the nearby grocery store and get some water. We went in and started looking for the water bottles when Sister Packard just stopped at the pastries. I laughed and thought, oh she wants a pastry. She started talking to a woman when I realzied it was one of our investigators! We had been trying and trying to get a hold of her and her husband but they never answered their phone, and every time we stopped by their house they weren't home. It was crazy because that grocery store was way far away from where they lived. Why they were shopping their I just don't know. We were able to talk to her and her husband for a little bit, so that was good. After buying the water we continued our search to find the referrals home. This time it was easy. She lives in a dorm, and the building is locked, but right when we rode up on our bikes someone else was going in as well so we had no problems with that. We knocked on her door and explained who we were and she was pleasently surprised to see us. She let us and and we talked for a bit. Turns out that she first heard about the church from the tv show south park. She then talked with one of her friends from Australia who is a member about the church. She then went to Copenhagen where a member there talked to her. That member contacted a member in Esbjerg and The member in Esbjerg gave her address to the elders, and the elders gave her address to us. So basically the referral went through a lot of people and it's amazing that it got to us. We set up another appointment with her on friday. Friday came around and We taught her about the restoration. We showed her the Joseph Smith Film, and afterwards asked her how she felt. She told us that it was really good and that she felt like she can really relate to Joseph Smith because he wanted to know which church was true. At the end of the lesson we asked her if she would be baptized Jan. 11th after receiving her answer. Her exact words were, "That is so soon!....Okay I'll do it" haha She said the closing prayer, and when we asked her how she felt. She said she has never felt that way before and that she felt warm all over her body. It was such a neat experience! We are so excited to work with her. By the way her name is Sonia. haha She is actually originally from Iran, grew up in Turkey. Her parents are muslim, but she has never been muslim. She doesn't speak danish.

right now we have 3 people that we are working with that have a baptisimal date and none of them speak danish. I'm pretty sure it's because a few weeks ago when I spoke in sacrament meeting I said, "the gospel is for everyone. people that speak danish, and people that don't speak danish." haha sometimes the danes don't like it when people don't speak their language.

Ana Marie and Min are doing great. They are just the sweetest people. Friday we taught them about tithing. We tried having Bishop Pedersen come with, but he wasn't able to make it because he was going teaching with the elders. We were debating on teaching the law of tithing on a day that he could come with us, but Sister Packard and I both felt like tithing was something that needed to be addressed as soon as possible. Our ward mission leader was able to help us out. When we got to their home and began explaining tithing they told us that they had already talked about tithing with eachother, and that they are planning on paying it. Sister Packard and I, as well as our ward mission leader just all kind of sat there for a second in shock. They are amazing. Seriously, they are just wonderful wonderful people. We talked about how the best way to know if paying tithing works is by actually paying it. Min was about ready to pay it right then and there. haha

So last week we taught a man who is actually from the Congo. (shout out to Christian!) his wife's friend was over and she seemed very interested. She sat and listened and when it was time to leave we gave her a pamphlet with our number one it and invited her to church. She said she would she would come to church, but unfortunately she didn't show up. The whole week we didn't hear anything from her. Usually it's pretty normal to not hear back from people, but for some reason she really just seemed different. Well, Yesterday she called. She said she couldn't come to church but she was wondering if we could go to her home sometime so we could "snakke om Jesus." We were so happy to hear from her! We scheduled and appointment with her and it was probably the funniest phone conversation I have ever had in my life. She speaks Danish, but she has a very strong accent, And I speak kind of danish like an American. So there was one point in the conversaton where we were both just laughing so hard. I'm super excite to meet with her though.

The other day when Sister Packard and I were out contacting we talked to someone, and I can't remember exactly what happened, but whatever it was it caused all of us to laugh. As we continued walking, we were still laughing and an elderly woman in front of us stopped to talk to us. She told us that she loves hearing young people laugh. We were able to have a good conversation with her. Turns out that one of her friends when she was young was a member of the church. She gave us her address and she gladly took a Book of Mormon. I loved that she stopped to talk to us because we were laughing, she recognized that we were happy:)

We had a dinner appointment with Birgitte Ohlsen last week. I met Emil! I really enjoy Birgitte a lot, she is so much fun. She showed us pictures from her mission. 3 of her companions were senior sisters. funny huh? We talked about Suzie's family and she told me how grateful she is for them. She also said that she doesn't think that Sam and Emil's other friends that are members have any idea how much of a good influence they were on Emil. She is the only member in her family and I can't even imagine what that would be like. 

One thing that Sister Packard and I like to do when we visit people is to sing a hymn. Saturday evening we went and visited a member from the bishopric and his wife. We told them that we were doing a musical number the next day in church and he had us do it for him and his wife. The next day in church when he announced that we would be doing a musical number he basically said something along the lines of although their danish is not good, they are really good at music. haha whatevs.

Things are going good here in Esbjerg. I'm having a great time with Sister Packard! The elders and us are planning on going Christmas caroling for the month of december. Fun huh? I can't even believe that it's Christmas time. Crazy.  

So yeah. There you have it. I hope you all have a great week! I love you all very much! 

Love Sister Katherine Murray 

Hello Family (Letter From Katherine - 11/18/2013

Hejså!

Well, another week has gone by here in Esbjerg and I can hardly believe it. Sister Packard and I have had some pretty neat experiences. 

Like I mentioned before Sister Packard plays the violin. It's actually her major, so she is very very talented. We have had a lot of fun playing together. Monday after our p-day had finished we planned to visit some inactive members of the church. We stopped by one to invite them to a reliefsociety activity and then planned to go visit a man who was on our ward list. It's super dark outside early now, so we went into a store near by to try and find where he lived on the map. We did our best to figure out how to get there but we were a little hesitant that we would be able to find his house. Well we got on our bikes and rode. We were able to find his house easy. that hardly ever happens! It usually takes some time trying to get places we have never been before, especially since Denmark doesn't like street signs very much. haha but yeah we were guided right to his house. Their lights were on and we could see that they were cooking dinner. As missionaries we seem to interupt peoples dinner a lot. haha but afte we knocked and he opened the door he told us he wasn't interested . We kept talking and then out of the blue he said he would ask his wife if we could come in. I honestly thought she would say no, but we got a very hesitant yes, which is all we needed:) We went in and just started talking to them for a while. They kept saying that they weren't interested in the missionaries visiting them. The wife isn't a member and the husband hasn't been to church since he was little. I just kept praying that they would have a change of heart, when suddenly I noticed a violin hanging on the wall. I looked at that violin and it was almost like it was glowing. I knew right then and there that it was an answer to my prayer, and it was our way in. I asked them about the violin and it turns out that the wife use to play. they had just recently been to a violin concert and talked about how much they love the violin. I don't think it was a coincidence that my companion just so happens to be a violin major. She asked if she could play it. They said it hasn't been touched in years, but that she could try. She tuned it and played beautifully, leading them to tears. They told us they would love for us to come back. It was such a neat experience. It is amazing how music can bring the spirit so strongly. 

We are teaching a young family right now, Anne Marie and Min. I think I mentioned them last time. They are some of the most wonderful humble people I have ever met. Min has commited to be baptized and he isn't even able to understand the book of mormon because it isn't in Burmeese. They are the sweetest family. Yesterday we had planned to talk to them about Joseph Smith. I thought we were about done with the lesson when Sister Packard pulled out a picture of the temple and began talking about the temple. I was kind of like...uh...where did that come from? Well, It was definitely inspired. We started talking to them about the blessings that the temples bring. When we explained that only worthy members of the church could enter the temple we heard Min say something. We were both kind of like uh oh what did he say. We asked him, and he sait that is great. You have to know Min in order to understand that him saying that is like a normal person jumping up and down and shouting for joy. haha When we started talking about baptisms for the dead and families being together forever Min said, "If this is true, I am so happy." Anne Marie said, "My heart is singing!" It was so wonderful. I can't even describe how special they are. Everytime Sister Packard and I leave their home we just have the biggest smiles on our faces. Oh they are just so wonderful.

Church was great yesterday. IT was the primary program and the children are so dang cute. Anne Marie and Min were there with their two little children as well as Nikolaj. Nikolaj is one of the members grandsons who we have began working with. He is 17, and yesterday was the first time he has been to church since he was very little. The elders just started working with a man who was a referral from the office. They went to meet him and he said I have studied your church and I want to be baptized. They gave him a book of mormon and asked him to begin reading. They went back two days later and he had read the whole thing. Pretty amazing huh? The work is hastening and people ARE prepared now, more than ever before. 

Wednesday was our zone training and that was fun. We had a thanksgiving dinner. My zone leader actually went to riverton High, he was in one of my math classes, so it was a lot of fun to see him, He's a year older than me, his name is Nathaniel Vanderborghe. There's actually an elder in my district who also went to riverton high, he was pretty good friends with Peter James, his name is Elder Ennos. Small world huh? So we had our training, a talent show, and then ate thanksgiving dinner. Oh yeah, it was in Odense! So that was great! I love Odense. It will forever be a very special place to me. AFter eating we went and played football. Or should I say the elders played football. They're not the greatest at involving the sisters. haha whatevs they just missed out on my awesome football skills. jk jk 

It was fun talking to Sister Olsen again. She was very excited that I knew the Ericksons. She invited us over for dinner tomorrow:) 

Today a class came on a field trip to the church to take a tour. There was about 20 kids ther age 13-14 and it was a really good experience. We showed them the restoration film and then took them on a tour of the church. We took them to the chapel last and Sister Packard and I played come thou fount for them. They were very respectful and had a lot of questions. One of the girls said she had goosebumps the whole time. It might have been because the church was cold, but I think she was feeling something:)   

We are working with this man named Sven. How do I even begin to explain Sven. When we go to visit him we have the elders come with. Okay, I lost it in our lesson with him. I got the giggles so bad. We were trying to sing a hymn when he pulls out his guitar. We asked him to give us an A chord, when he played an a minor. His apartment is super dark, so elder hansen was standing behind sister packard and I holding a flash light so we could see the hymn book. The whole situation was just super bizarre and I just couldn't stop laughing. Sven got a kick out of it though. 

I wish I could just give you every detail of who i'm working with and exactly what i am experiencing. I am coming to love Esbjerg even though it is dark and cold and sometimes smells like fish. 

I hope you have a great week! Happy Thanksgiving! I love you!

Love Katherine

Hej med jer! (Letter From Katherine - 11/11/2013

Hello Family!

I'm not going to lie, i feel a little homesick for Odense. It's kind of tough getting use to a new area, especially since I was in Odense for a while and loved the people there so much, but I know that I WILL come to love Esbjerg just as much if not more:)

Washing the soot off of my luggage was quite the process. I tried vacuming it all off, and that worked okay but there was still soot on them so then I scrubbed them with water and dish soap. It actually worked pretty good, but it was quite the process. I probably should have done it earlier so I wasn't so stressed with time, but it was a job I wasn't looking forward to and besides, when do missionaries ever have time to clean there luggage off? haha I was able to get all packed though. I left my bike in Odense because we will be going back on Wednesday for zone training and a Thanksgiving celebration so I thought I would just get it then when I didn't have all my luggage with me. Speaking of bikes. One of the members in Esbjerg bought bikes for the missionaries here so that is what I have been using. After the fire Sister Hall and I used the buses a lot because we lived so far away from everything so I kind of got out of the biking mode. so once again i have to adjust to biking everywhere. It's kind of rough! but it's good for me:)

 

So far is Esbjerg is great. The apartment is so dang cute. I forgot to take pictures of it this week, but I will make sure and do it next week so you can see what it looks like. I'm not sure what exact address is, but I do know that it's Nørregade 128. Oh yeah, before I forget. I cut my hair! not super short but a lady in my ward in Odense has quite the nice salon and she said she would cut our hair for us. Sister Hall chopped all of hers off and it is sooooooo cute! I just told sister Arriaga that I wanted it to be healty so she took quite a bit of length of but I was fine with that. When we asked how much it cost she told us that it was my going away gift and sister Hall's birthday gift. It was very kind of her. Okay, back to Esbjerg.

So we got in Wednesday night and went straight to an appointment with a member named Ayesha. she is 14 years old and her mom is a member but not active, and her older sister is a member as well. She has two younger sisters that aren't members. We help Ayesha with her personal progress. Right now one of her projects is to do family home evening with her family twice a week and one of those times the missionaries come over to teach the lesson. I think that is just the greatest idea.

We have two people with Baptismal dates here in Esbjerg. Min and Anne Marie. Min is from Myamar and Anne Marie is from the philippines. They are so sweet. Language is kind of a barrier. They don't have the Book of mormon in Bermese which is what Min speaks. I had my first lesson with them yesterday and oh how I wish you could have been there. They are so wonderful, humble and kind people.

Sister Packard is great! She is a very hard worker and I have really been enjoying working with her. The other night when one of our appointments fell through we were contacting on the street and knocking doors. We contacted this one guy and I kind of just slaughtered it. The guy started laughing and then we got the giggles way bad. He wasn't very interested but atleast we put a smile on his face. After contacting him we went to knock a door and I tried to say something but I guess I still had the giggles because I lost it. I couldn't even talk I was laughing so hard. That has never happened to me while knocking doors. haha but it was pretty funny. Don't worry I was able to pull it together after that haha. 

We are working hard and during our planning sessions at the end of the day we realize that we forgot to schedule in meals haha. Speaking of meals, the members don't feed us as much here in Esbjerg :.( it's okay though maybe I will lose some weight haha. 

Guess what. I spoke on sunday too! We are twinners mom:) My topic was on the different cultures within different missions. It was kind of a tough subject, but it was good because I was able to clear some things up. There are 3 members that teach us Danish. one of the ladies teaches us on Sunday mornings before church. She helped me a lot with my talk. Her name is Birgitte Olsen. Yep that's right sister Olsen. Her son is Emil. Small world! I actually wasn't able to talk to her about Emil and the Erickson's because I didn't put it together till later. She is the only member in her family and she served a mission in Ohio. She's awesome. 

I could go on and on about some of hte people here. They're great! 

Sister Packard plays the violin and she was actually able to get a hold of one from a member so we get to play the violin an piano together. It is quite fun! 

 

Things have been going good. It's hard adjusting to a new area but I'm excited for what lies ahead. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you!!!!!

Love Katherine

ps. It's so cold!!! 

pps. Isabella, the investigator we were working with in Odense, is getting baptized in January! so exciting!!

Jeg skal til Esbjerg (Letter From Katherine - 11/04/2013)

Hello my dear wonderful family!

First things first. The keys on this keyboard are sticking, so if there are a ton of typos i'm sorry!

Guess what?! I'm being transferred! to Esbjerg! Which is pretty funny because that is where sister Hall served before comig to Odense. I have heard nothig but good things about Esbjerg. I will also be companions with Sister Hannah Packard. We went to New York togther. She is the one that is really good friends with Summer! I am pretty dang excited. I mean, i love Odense, but i didn't realize how ready I was to be transferred until I actually recived the phone call.

It has been a crazy abnormal week. We had a lot of big events. Thursday we had a halloween party thing for invstigators/less actives and it was quite the project. We made  haunted house and It took pretty much all day. It was fun, but I was beat. I'm not sure how, but I ended up pretty much making all of the food. It was just so hectic! but pretty funny. Sister Hall and I accidentaly dumped like all of the noodls into the sink. So yeah that was quite the experience.

Friday was a pretty normal missionary day. We were able to meet with Birgit finally. she hadn't been respondig to our texts our calls so we decided to just try and visit her. She was home! She let us come in and we tlaked for quite a while. She is about 50 and she has cancer. She has  a very posotive outlook on life and is very open to our message. I am excited to hear about what happes with her in the future.

Before I forget, Sister Hall and Sister Bartholomew went to copenhagen on tuesday to take their language test. So sister Rigby and I were on splits together. Oh wait! K so monday there was like this crazy huge storm in Denmark. People couldn't even ride their bikes, and the next day a ton of trees were broken and stuff. The missionaries had to stay inside. So we bakded bannana bread and listend to christmas music. It was quite hyggeligt. Anyways, back to tuesdy so the other sisters hav e been

teachig  a young woman named Isabella. She lives in our ward so Sister Hall and I have been working with her now. Tuesday Sister Rigby adn I had a lesson with her and explaied why it's so important that she goes to the ward that she lives in. at first she hd  areally hard time with it, but all we had to say was God's house is a house of order. It was really cool to see how it just clicked. She came to the second ward yesterday and fasted for the first time. She is such a special girl. i am sad to leave her. She wants to be baptized in january:)

Saturday was sister Hall's birthday. We had an eating appoitmnt with one of the young singl adults and she had a little birthdya party for her. It was a lot of fun. I'm such an awkward missionary though. haha It's hard because I'm not Katherine, I'm sister Murray. I mean I'm still my self, but it's not the same ya know?

Sunday we had an amazing fast and testimoy meeting. Last week Ninna went to the temple to do her mother's baptism and confirmation. She had a wonderful experience. A lot of the testimoies were focussed on the temple. It was really neat. One of the young men about David's age got up and bore his testimony and it was very very touching. It was just a really good meeting. JJ a member from greenland invited his sister to come. She isn't a member and she just crited through all of sacramnt meeting. It was very sweet. It was kind of hard sayig goodbye to the people I love. Especially Ninna. Holy Cow I didn't relaize that it would be that hard. I have her information and will definitly be keeping in touch. Guss what?! Yesterday Lucia was in all three hours of church and so was her big sister  who isn't a member. IT was great! Mona also told us that her dad wants to staart coming back to church. What a huge blesing.

We had a little fireside thing for the young adults after churh and pretty much everything thta could have gone wrong went wrong. Holy cow. Long story short it turned out okay. we watched the other side of heaven. Well, I didn't watch it because I was like wired and couldn't relax so I cut apples with the other sisters hahaa. I'm pretty sure missionaries feel way to much stress. It's okay though because it somehow always manages to work out! We definitely have someone watching over us. Mom- we made the apple dip with the toffee in it for the dessert and they all loved it. Just thought I would let you know:) It was a hectic night though. It was just crazy because church was just absolutely wonderful nd then everything just went crazy. It will definitely be a night thta I rmmber.

Well that's about it. It was a good and crzazy week. I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week!

Love Katherine

ps. I didn't have any migraines this week:) woohoo!

Hello!!! (Letter From Katherine - 10/28/2013

Hej Family,

So I am sorry but I am starting this letter off with bad news. It has been a pretty rough week for migraines. i think I had a total of three, but one of them was probably one of the worst ones I have ever had in my life and i'm not even exaggerating

. I started in the middle of the night so by the time i got the medicine in it didn't do anything. IT was so weird I couldn't talk at all and my whole body was like completely numb, and I threw up like 5 times. It was great. I think it kind of freaked the other sisters out. I felt bad. They called the elders and had them come and give me a blessing. After the migraine had passed Sister Hall siad Holy cow, now I understand why they are called mini strokes. It was really really hard. but i'm okay! I don't know what triggered them but I think it means that there are blessings to come!

Saturday was Davids's baptism. He is 16 years old and has been ready to be baptized for qutie a while and it finally happened! It was such a special day. His mom and siblings are members of the church, but his parents are divorced and his dad isn't a member. Earlier in the week Sister Hall and I were able to have dinner with Hannah and Lars Jensen, he was the man that baptized and confirmed Davids. It was fun getting to know them better and it made the baptism a really neat experience. Hannah and Lars have not been able to have children, but they developed a relationship with Davids, so Davids asked Lars to baptize and confirm him. Since Lars hasn't had the opportunity to baptize his own children Davids was the first person that he has baptized and you could tell how excited and humbled he was to do it. It was a very sweet baptism. 

During the dinner appointment with Hanne and Lars I was in heaven. Lars plays the piano, and very well at that! He would play a song and then have me play a song, and we switched back and forth a few times. It was so much fun. I miss playing the piano!!!!

Sunday they had the ward choir sing. I didn't even know we had a ward choir until yesterday, but I loved it. It was cool to look at all of them and say I have been in their homes and eaten with them and gotten to know and love them so much. We find out what is happening with transfers on Wednesday and the thought of leaving Odense makes me want to cry. I love the people here so so much.

We had interviews with president last week and I thought I could get him to tell what would be happening with transfers but he said he still wasn't sure. He asked me if I was sick of Odense and I told him I could serve my whole mission in Odense and be happy. haha

Yesterday Mona and Marejka were both in church. They are getting really involved with the young single adults so that his been wonderful. Thursday Ken Hall is having a halloween get together with the missionaries/investigators/members/less actives. It should be a lot of fun! I will let you know how it goes.

Guess what? Taylor's apartment got robbed! crazy huh?

Elder Larsen, he's my district leader is going home next week. now that is crazy! He has been here in Odense as long as I have. It's weird to think that the time comes in a missionaries life when they actually go home.

Things have been going well and Sister Hall has been making me laugh a lot. Oh she is so dang funny. Guess what we're doing on sunday?! so a few weeks ago we had a fireside for the young single adults where we watched the joseph smith movie and had a testimony meeting. This sunday we are going to do a missionary fireside and guess what movie we got approved?! THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN!!!!! cool huh? I'm pretty excited. This saturday is also sister hall's birthday, so it will be a good week:) Thank you for all your love and support and prayers. I hope you all know how much I love you. Have a great week!

Love Katherine

ps. so one of the members in my ward put a picture of four of us missionaries at the harry potter festival on a world wide church member page on face book and she said it got like 1000 likes. cool huh?