An Apostle comes to Denmark, Seeing Mormor and Morfar and tranfer week for Søster Holbrook

So we thought for sure that Søster Holbrook was going to stay with Søster Lanham for another transfer because they were in the middle of the new missionary training time ... but that did not happen. Søster Holbrook was called to be a Sister Training Leader in Vejle. Lincoln served in Vejle for 9 months on his mission and it was his favorite place for sure.

Søster Holbrook and Søster Lanham in Copenhagen

Hey everyone!

HUGE WEEK!

1. Elder Andersen came to the mission! I feel like I learned so much from him! Three things I have already begun to apply are 1. pray every morning "Don't let me waste the day. Give me the faith and energy to find someone today." 2. Memorize scriptures that I really truly believe and learn how to apply it so smoothly like Elder Andersen roll played for us. 3. Increase my faith, because he promised us that "it will grow if it is your desire." I so look forward to the upcoming months. I see a lot of growth and I feel ready to face it!

2. K gave his old teacher a Book of Mormon! He is following the Savior's counsel that "when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." I look forward to hear about his progress in the upcoming weeks! 

3. I got transferred to Vejle! Another Sister will take my place and finish training Sister Lanham, and I will be an STL for the South Jutland zone. It was hard to say goodbye to Sister Lanham, but I am super excited to serve the sisters over here! I feel humbled to have such an incredible opportunity. Before I got the transfer call, I put the following verse on my planner: "He raised up unto them [Søster Holbrook] to be their [servant]; to whom he also gave testimony and said, I have found [Søster Holbrook] the daughter of [Lincoln], a [wo]man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will." Acts 13:22. I didn't imagine how true that scripture would come to be! God has been raising me up to be a servant for the sisters, and even though I only got one transfer with Sister Lanham, I know that this is where God wants me to be. That gives me a lot of comfort. Especially because I felt so inadequate.. Me?! As a trainer I often questioned "Am I growing?" "Am I who God excepts me to be?" "Am I really helping Sister Lanham become the missionary that she needs to be?" and surprisingly I often felt unsure of my answer. But getting the call from President on Saturday morning helped me really feel like I am on the path of progression that God wants me to be on! He is, like the scripture says, bearing testimony of me as I try to obey every personal commandment that I receive.

4. God works in mysterious ways. Sister Lanham and I were biking to the church and her skirt got stuck in her back bike tire! It happens occasionally and you can still bike and it is fine, but Sister Lanham, without any signal slams on her brakes! So hard that her back tire lifted off the ground about a foot and a half and she almost went over her handle bars! I was biking close behind her and of course had no time to stop so I crash directly into the back of her and fly into the middle of the street! We were both fine so we got a good laugh. But the little miracle? Sister Lanham's bike's gears were out of alignment so her bike stuttered and popped all the time, but somehow me crashing into the back of her realigned her tires! She has has almost zero popping since then! Crazy huh?

Well. I hope you all are doing well.

Love,

Søster Holbrook

 Quick food with Mormor and Morfar before going back to Esbjerg.

 A sweet Lady on Amager did this painting of Søster Holbrook, pretty neat and fun I think.

 Søster Lanham and Søster Holbrook :o)

All the missionaries in Denmark after the fireside with Elder Anderson. Can you find Søster Holbrook?

 Yardwork is ALWAYS fun :o)

 I just LOVE this picture... She looks so HAPPY!!

Wow what a week for Søster Holbrook. She had a chance to listen to a prophet's voice in Elder Anderson from the 12 Apostles. She saw Mormor and Morfar for a quit bite to eat and she was transferred to Vejle, where she will be a Sister Training Leader. Not a bad week at all. We are so grateful for all that she is becoming and all that she is learning!

Just another GREAT week for Søster Holbrook in Denmark

Søster Holbrook is loving training Søster Lanham and they are having a great time together. They are teaching some sweet people and they are seeing the seed of the gospel grow. What a wonderful thing to do and be part of.

 Søster Holbrook at the deer park having fun.

REALLY ... She need to be a little more careful I think ;o).

Søster Lanham trying to teach the Book of Mormon every where she goes. I LOVE it!!

 These two are just TOO precious.

 

You just gotta LOVE them :o)

Hey everyone!

This week has been incredible! why?? Because I finally got to Skype home to my family! I only had to wait for six days, but when you love your family as much as I love mine, that is a LONG time! IT was so great talking to them. I am sure that you all would agree that they are just the bees knees! :)

In other news.... 

K BELIEVES THAT JOSEPH SMITH RESTORED THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST!!! He is talking to his long time christian teacher/mentor in his conversion to Christianity today and telling him everything!! So we are keeping him in our prayers for sure! We are so excited for K!!! :) :) :)

We went on splits this week in Vejle and I could really picture myself serving there! It is a great place with great people! We contacted for 6 hours straight and saw more success than I have ever had in one day!

Enjoy the pics! The one with my hand is holding a small little thing that popped my bike tire. Crazy how something so small can cause so much trouble.

I testify that miracles happen everyday!

Thanks for the support!!!!

Søster Holbrook

 

 This is what popped her bike tire.

 

 

 The food is so GOOD in Denmark.

 AND now she looks REALLY small. This was in Vejle when she was on splits.

 

It was WONDERFUL to see Søster Holbrook this week and to feel of her spirit. We miss her a lot but know she is where she is meant to be. She is working hard and loving life and that makes us so happy and proud of her.

Late skype time for Mother's day was finally here.

Yep..... we had to wait another 6 days to see and talk to Søster Holbrook this time around because Mika was in Costa Rica and McKay was coming home from Japan. Also Lincoln was scheduled to be on a business trip that got move to another week so really it would only have been me that was home. Let me tell you it was worth the wait to talk to her.

 Look how happy she looks :o) So grateful for the SWEET family that took the picture and let her Skype from their home.

Saying HI !!

She is still as BEAUTIFUL as ever.

Our three treasures that Heaven sent to us!!

 Søster Lanham and  Søster Holbrook.

Another GREAT time spent with our FAVORITE missionary. She is love life in Denmark and she still has her own wit and fun way of being.  We miss her but are grateful that she is serving in denmark.

Trip to the mission home for the "30 days in the country training" and seeing Mormor and Morfar :o)

This week was a pretty special week for Søster Holbrook. She traveled with Sister Lanham to the mission home for the 30 day in the country training and they got to meet for a short minute with Mormor and Morfar.

 On the way to Copenhagen for the training. 

 In the mission home being taught from on high.

 

 Role play.

Seeing great friends is always awesome.

Hey everyone!

This week has been incredible!

Sister Lanham has been in the land for 30 days! So we got to go the "30 day in land" training at President's house! I learned so much and am excited to apply what I have learned! two ofthe  biggest take-aways I got was "decide to be changeable" and "what price are you willing to pay?" I know that the Lord expands our capacities and thus allows us to give more and more each day as long as we are willing to pay the price.

We also had the opportunity to go to the Copenhagen temple which was INCREDIBLE. There is nothing that beats the peace I feel inside the temple. :)

K is doing great. He said to us this week "you know, I have probably already gotten my answer and I just need to accept it." We feel like he is making great progress and feel right about the trajectory that He is on.

Enjoy the pictures! Sister Lanham and I are loving life and Esbjerg and missionary work! We BURN with LOVE for the work!

Thanks for the emails!

 

Love,

Søster Holbrook

 

 Short visit with Mormor and Morfar.

Søster Holbrook and Søster Lanham in front of Denmark Copenhagen temple.

 

 Four wonderful missionaries at a dinner appointment with a sweet ward family.

 

  Again a great week in Esbjerg and Søster Holbrook saw some wonderful things this week. She got to spend a little time with family and that is always the best. She is being spoiled and is really enjoying the sweet members in Esbjerg. THANKS for taking GREAT care of her for us ;o)

 

Legoland and just enjoying being a missionary in beautiful Denmark

Søster Holbrook is having a blast in Denmark and it is getting so GREEN over there. May is my VERY FAVORITE month in Denmark because the nature is so beautiful so I am a little jealous that she is there right now ;o).

 Søster Holbrook looks so happy and look how green it is !!

 Lego's are a Danish invention and so of course you have to see Legoland whe you are there!

 

Trying to teach "everyone" they meet ;o)

 Email from Søster Holbrook this week:

Hello All,

All is well here in Esbjerg! It is getting warmer each day and I just love it. :)

Søster Lanham and I got roasted for an entire knocking session this past Sunday, but we look forward to knocking in that area again! We feel strongly that that is where we need to be and so we will keep going back until we find the one! 

1 Corinthians 11:30-31

 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

In other news: K is doing great and has committed to come to church the next THREE Sundays in preparation for his baptism! That is HUGE for him!!!! We get to squeeze in one more lesson with him tonight before we head to København. He will actually be over there this weekend too! He is going on the ward temple trip and will sit in the waiting room and ponder the solemnities of eternity. He has been wanting to go for a while and our ward mission leader (who is good friends with K) has felt like he should take K there for a while. We committed them to it a couple of weeks ago, so it is cool to see it all coming together finally! D(an investigator that lives in Ribe, Denmark's oldest city, and was a referral from a member in Utah!) is doing really well too! We finally got another appointment with her and it went great! We taught her the plan of salvation and she absolutely loved it! Especially because she has two family members currently dying from cancer. We look forward to seeing the gospel bless her life. 

The sun is shining in Esbjerg and on our companionship!

Love you all!

Søster Holbrook

 

 AWESOME picture.

 

 Two sweet sister missionaries.

 I think they are having a GREAT time together ;o)

Another great week for Søster Holbrook on the mission. She is really enjoying her time with Sister Lanham and they are learning so many awesome things together.

Missionary life is great and Søster Holbrook is very happy!!

This week we got an email from Søster Holbrook what a blessing... hey that does not happen every week that we get a group email so we better count the blessing as they come ;o)

These 2 sweet sisters are learning and growing together and Søster Holbrook is saying she is the one that is learning the most ;o)

Email from Søster Holbrook this week:

Hey everyone!

Life as a missionary is busy as usual, which is why I have been so inconsistent with writing weekly emails. I hope you all know that I am happy and healthy and love the work more and more each day! Really I didn't know it was possible to love it more, but I seem to just find more joy with each passing day. Life is good. God is good!

A while ago I mentioned something about our investigator  who was on baptismal date for April 9th and here is the update with him: he did not get baptized on that day. He didn't feel quite ready for the commitment but feels like he will be ready on June 4th! He has had some very incredible experiences with the Book of Mormon. In his own words, "I don't even know if the book is true, but it is influencing my life so much!" He gave up coffee, asked for non-alcoholic drinks while on vacation, and decided that he will have kids one day (seriously he has been against that for so long so that last one is just crazy!)! In all of these cases he said "I didn't even know why I did it at first. But then looking back it is because of the book and what you sister have taught me!" HOW INCREDIBLE IS THAT!!!!! He recognizes that that is the Holy Ghost bearing testimony of the truthfulness of our message, but still has some reservations about leaving his own church. I imagine it's like God asking me to leave this church and go to the Jehovah's Witnesses or something. It would be very hard to leave a church that has fostered so much growth! So we keep teaching and keep praying and keep listening to the quite promptings of the Spirit to help prepare him to reach his new date. I have complete confidence that he will be ready to make that special and sacred covenant with God in just a few short weeks!

This story has prompted me to ponder more deeply the Atonment and the converting power of being nourished by the good word of God. Two scriptures that I have pondered a lot this week are: 1. 1 Corinthians 15:10 "by the grace of God I am what I am." and Moroni 10:32 "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God." I often think of who I would be without the Savior's atonement in my life, and I can honestly say that I am ashamed of who I would inherently be. I know my weakness and I know what the Savior has helped me overcome... and I can say that I am a completely changed person. I know the every "good" part of my comes from Him. and because I have felt that change, and seen that change I KNOW that the Savior lives! That is why I especially love the end of Moroni 10:32 because "I can in nowise deny the power of God." It has transformed me. I am what I am because of the Grace of God. and because of the Grace of God that I have experienced I know that He lives!!!!!!!! I know that there is a special power that comes from reading God's word every day! God's word motivates change (just reread Kevin's story!!!) and the more we spend feasting upon the words of Christ, the more like the Savior we can become!

Sister Lanham is awesome and I feel like she is training me more than I am training her! She is incredible, even though she can't spell her own name right (see pictures). ha-ha

Thanks for the support!

Søster Holbrook

 This apron is saying in Danish: "me.. I have to work " :o)

 

 Søster Holbrook has gotten MANY great friends in Denmark.

 AWESOME t-shirt... I like it !!

 Did these sweet Sisters maybe go for a morning run ... maybe :o)

I love this flag. It is hanging in the sister apartment in Esbjeg and every sister that serves there will sign the flag. Sweet tradition and a fun thing for decoration. 

 

Søster Holbrook is working hard and is loving being a missionary. We are so happy that she is out serving and of course she is in the BEST mission EVER ;o). We look forward to our call with her in the next few weeks that is ALWAYS a treat.