Merry Christmas -Glædelig Jul 2017

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! It has been the BEST one yet in the last two years because Søster Holbrook will be home in a few short weeks :o)

ALWAYS the BEST gift when you have a missionary in the field. THE SKYPE CALL!! AND of course these three are our BEST TREASURES.

Tivoli with Mormor and Morfar.

Three beautiful Sister Missionaries.

My FAVORITE sandwich in Denmark, It is just the BEST and I miss it so much !

 

Email from Søster Holbrook:

Kære Alle Sammen,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! :) This week has been a GREAT week! We saw many blessings and I couldn't help but feel like they were God's Christmas gifts to us.

This week four new sisters came to the mission a week early (transfers are this week), so we got to have a trainee with us all week! Her name is Sister Calame and she is from Switzerland!!! She is a convert of two years and is out on a mission despite not having any familial support. She is incredible and will be a GREAT strength to Den Danske Mission.

On Monday we went to Tivoli with Mormor and Morfar and Sister Matheson because her companion finished her mission and was flying home and so we needed to do splits for a day. We have had delicious eating appointments every day. We had our Christmas zone conference and I got SO many letters! THANK YOU to all who wrote me one. Easily my favorite gift.  We had a Birthday party with F and he said it was the best birthday he has ever had! He had a dark childhood, so he never really celebrated his birthday. We got him a little lagkage (layered cake) and a Meet the Mormons video. It was very special. F also passed his baptismal interview! He will be getting baptized this week on the 30th! :) On Sunday, the missionaries all sang a musical number (conquered that fear) and it turned out pretty good! 

We of course had LOTS of julehygge yesterday. Here in Denmark we celebrate Christmas on the 24th so yesterday involved a very Danish Christmas dinner (special pork with the skin still on it, roasted duck, red cabbage, potatoes, and brown potatoes with ricealamande for dessert), singing and dancing around the house and Christmas tree, lots of candles, a package/gift game and lots of small danish cookies.

I was especially touched by the "away in the manger" song this year. The last verse says "Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask you to stay, close by me forever and love me I pray. Bless all the dear children in your tender care, and fit us for heaven to live with you there." I know that God raises us up and fits us for heaven. Everything that we go through in life is something that will build us up and shape us into the person God knows we can be. I am grateful for the gospel and for our Savior Jesus Christ. 

Kærlig Hilsen,

Søster Holbrook

New Sister Missionary Sister Calame

Ready for the BEST Christmas dinner EVER!! AND YES we have it EVERY Christmas here in Utah!

 Merry Christmas From the Sisters :o)

What a great day. We got to SEE and TALK to our FAVORITE Sister Missionary and it was a treat!! We love her. We Miss her. SHE is the BEST!!

It is begining to look a lot like Christmas... Still a week to go :o)

What a cute picture of Søster Holbrook and Søster Jone. Great missionaries and awesome friends. They are looking at stars and enjoying the night sky over Copenhagen!

  Before the Haircut Picture

 Having the Haircut and look at cute Søster Jones taking pictures :o) 

 Look at these sweet looking Sister Missionaries.

Short Email from Søster Holbrook:

Hey Everyone!

I had a great week this week. We were on splits for three days in a row, which is always exhausting but also super fun. I love the Sisters I get to serve around!

Not much to update on. F has his baptismal interview this week and D agreed to come to church on the 24th! The work is moving forward here!

I look forward to Christmas. I love the Savior. He truly is the light of the world and He is the light of my world. I pray you all have a great Christmas filled with family and the Savior! 

#LightTheWorld

Søster Holbrook 

 #LightTheWorld and these ladies are for sure doing that... Lighting the world.

WE love the news from the Denmark Copenhagen Mission. Monday is for sure the BEST day of the week! Thanks for making it AWESOME Søster Holbrook.

Christmas party, Lunch with Mormor and Morfar and "My Plan" meeting with the President

What a WONDERFUL for Søster Holbrook. She is busy and looking forward to Christmas. December is the most wonderful month in the year in Denmark.

" My Plan" meeting for going home in 8 week for these missionaries.

Sleepover for my plan meeting.

What a great looking group of missionaries.

Email from Søster Holbrook

Hey Everyone!

Lots of things happened this week! For P-day we had a "missionær jule hygge fest" and played lots of games together. That night I was sick with food poisoning which included me passing out, hitting my head and getting a huge goose egg. It is kind of hilarious actually. I remember thinking "well, at least I don't have to go running tomorrow." haha. We had a couple of eating appointments, one being with Mormor and Morfar! They bought us some new food too so I won't get sick again. They sure do keep me alive over here! :) We also had our "My plan" meeting this week for missionaries that are going home soon. President O'Bryant talked a lot about finishing the mission strong and about making goals for when we come home. He told us that we can never allow ourselves to become so busy that we stop repenting. He said we should always be working on a Christlike attribute and make goals to accomplish it. It was a very insightful meeting. We got to go to the temple afterwards and that was of course incredible. I miss the temple and I look forward to going there often when I come home. We visited three districts this week to do training on positivety and diligence. 

We visited D this week and we are happy to say that he had NO effects of ptsd or anxiety after his church visit (sometimes he has to lay in bed for three days after big events). He also was able to go grocery shopping and not take any breaks! He has bad legs and takes anywhere from 5-10 breaks throughout the entire trip. We told him it is the promised blessings from living the word of wisdom and from the blessing he got a while ago. He is coming closer and closer to the Savior and is preparing to be baptized the 27th of January!

F officially has a baptismal date for the 30th of December! He has his interview scheduled and everything. There is just a couple small things we need to clarify, but other than that he is well on his way to making covenants with God! He has had a very dark childhood and upbringing, so it has been incredible to see him come into the light. He really is looking forward to his baptism because it is something that will help heal him and start a new life.

Don't forget to #LightTheWorld! thanks for all of you who have brought light to my world! 

Søster Holbrook

Lunch with Mormor and Morfar

 

 Sister Grabe and Søster Holbrook

 WARD CHRISTMAS PARTY!!

 Mailboxes looks like this in Denmark so cute and I really miss them.

 

Søster Holbrook is the BEST and we love her to bits. She is getting closer to the end and we are looking forward to having her home. We are grateful for her service and that she can always look back and know she has giving it all to Him.

 

 

 

 

P-day at the Copenhagen Zoo and Light the World on Strøget with Søster Holbrook

Søster Holbrook is working hard and loving the missionary life in Denmark. She is learning so much and that is wonderful for a parent to see.

The craziest animals at the zoo! ... The Mormons!!!

 One HUNGRY Tiger!

 What a CUTE Baby Elephant.

Email from Søster Holbrook:

Hey everyone!

D came to church and cried throughout most of the sacrament meeting! He had a great time and it is honestly such a HUGE miracle because of his ptsd and phobias...

F wants to be baptized!! He talks about his baptism more and more! He is not quite ready yet, but he is making good progress. He also enjoyed church this week and had some pretty good answers in guest class! We also went over the baptismal questions and when we asked him "What does repentance mean to you?" he said "It means everything to me! It has meant everything to me these past 10 years."

This week we went to Strøget with wrapped Book of Mormons to #LightTheWorld. We handed over 130 books and already have people calling us to learn more!

I love the work. I love this season. I love my Jesus!

Keep on keeping on!

Søster Holbrook

 LOOK at this ... SO GOOD.

 

 LIGHT THE WORLD

Giving out the Book of Mormon to people.

Great week for Søster Holbrook in Denmark. She is serving hard and LOVING it! We are looking forward to talking her in a few weeks on Skype!

Interviews with President ,a leadership training, a HUGE thanksgiving party it has been a busy week for Søster Holbrook

It was a very busy week for Søster Holbrook in Denmark.

 It says Merry Christmas in Danish here. VERY SWEET!

 The AP's got us a Christmas tree during their trip to Jylland! SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS.

 Anna-Lena! one of my favorite members over here! 

Email from Søster Holbrookthis week:

Hey Everyone!

This week was great!  Søster Jones and I had a great p-day filled with lots of adventures, Miranda took us to a great Thai restaurant, we got to watch the Face to Face with Elder Oaks and Elder Ballard, we had lunch with Mormor and Morfar, interviews with President, a couple of eating appointments, a leadership training, a HUGE thanksgiving party with a half American family, we had great lessons with Dan and Frank, we brought Frank to a baptism and we had the primary program!

Some updates on our friends:

F- He is a man with a pretty dark background, but really has been wanting to change his life around for a while. He is preparing for baptism and so we went through the baptismal questions with him and he is basically all the way ready! He just needs to know a couple of details. When we asked him what repentance means to him, he said "It means everything to me." He met the bishop in his office this week, and walked out smiling and happy. And he also smiled the ENTIRE time at church and didn't fall asleep once! :)

D- He is a Jehova's Witness that began doubting his faith, and then the missionaries knocked on his door. This week he taught us what the world "atheist" means. He said an atheist is "a denier of god." He said we often think an atheist is someone who denies the existence of a God with a capital G. But he says that it is the little g god that TRUE atheists deny. Then he said that according to that definition, there is not such thing as an actual atheist because we all believe in something, be it God with a captal G, fortune, or ourselves. We all believe in something. I thought that was a very interesting thought. 

Thanksgiving was awesome! We actually didn't really do anything on Thanksgiving day (well we ate a kebab if that counts), but Friday we had the big party so it all worked out in the end. It was nice to celebrate an American holiday. It also means that Christmas is in ONE MONTH and I am just WAY too excited. I love Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, check out the Christmas initiative this year! It is awesome.

https://www.mormon.org/?cid=HP_FR_24-11-2017_dMIS_fMORG_xLIDyL1-A_

Love,

Søster Holbrook

 

 At the queen's castle in Copenhagen.

 Guard at the queen's castle pretty neat!.

 Nyhavn - classic street/tourist place very know in Copenhagen.

 

Søster Holbrook  saw a lot of fun and neat things this week in Denmark. She is for sure having a wonderful time over-there!

 

Another weeek for Søster Holbrook in Denmark has passed and she is doing GREAT!

Email from Søster Holbrook this week was short and NOT many pictures either. SAD week :o(

 Puzzles are a FAVORITE in the mission field but Søster Holbrook has always loved them even at home.

NICE sayings!!!

Hey Everyone!

Life is great! Not too much to update here.

The missionaries on a small island called Bornholm (6 hour ferry ride from Copenhagen) called us this week and told us that they got a new investigator because she had heard us on the radio and that opened her up! 

This week we took the new sisters that arrived out to go contacting for their first time, went on splits with sisters from Amager, held another surprise birthday party, had dinner with an investigator at a member's house, met with lots of recently baptized/less-active members, and did a whole bunch of finding! Pretty much an average week. I think I took a total of 9 pictures. The one I sent is of a member who is moving to Amager. In a lot of ways, she reminds me of Mika. so it is nice seeing her. :)

Keep on Keeping on!

Søster Holbrook

 

 Member who is moving to Amager.

 

Another week in the mission field is gone!! What a treat it is to hear about what Søster Holbrook is doing in Denmark.

Søster Holbrook and Søster Jones gets another transfer together!! Trip to Søster Holbrook's birth palce and seeing Mormor and Morfar!

Wonderful week for Søster Holbrook and she get to stay together with Søster Jones what a treat that is .

Søster Holbrook in Hillerød (my literal birthplace) 

Splits.

 

 Lunch with Mormor and Morfar ;o)

Email from Søster Holbrook this week:

Hey Everyone!

I will cut right to the chase. Sister Jones and I are staying together!!!!!!!!!! :) It came as a huge surprise because she has been here a long time already, but we are both so happy! Sister Jones and I are in the same group so it will be super nice to spend Christmas with her! 

This week we went up to Hillerød (my literal birthplace) on splits. We saw Mormor and Morfar and they spoiled us good like usual. We hit up Strøget (the biggest gågade in denmark) with a bunch of missionaries for a blitz splits. We handed out lots of Book of Mormons! This is also great practice for then the Book of Mormon musical which comes to Denmark this January.

I look forward to this next transfer. Sister Jones and I have planned to focus our efforts on becoming. Job 5:17-18.

Keep on keeping on!

Søster Holbrook

 

 MADS!!!!! He came and taught a lesson with us!!!!

 

 Denmark's national bird is the swan and it is so beautiful!

 Søster Holbrook is the BEST!! So cute.

Great week and another good time for Søster Holbrook. We love her. We miss her and look forward to her safe return in a few months.