Week #7 Ballerup

Hej alle! I made it to Denmark!!! It is soo sick!!! And i live in a house, I will get to that in a bit! Also, my trainer is sooooo sick also!!! Life is great here in Denmark!!!

MTC Goodbyes 

If we could go all back like a week, I would be in the MTC and i cant even remember it. It feels like forever. We had in field training which says pretty much just to work hard with the members and everything. It was like the whole day and I almost died. Nothing too exciting else happened on my last days at the MTC oh but during my last gym time I was balling and this kid asked me if I played against Jeaunu Alaska and i was like, yea. And he was like I played against you! Small world!!! That was sick! Then we just packed and tried to get all of our suitcases under 50 pounds which was tough, but with some crazy brains, it all worked out at 49 and 48.5 pounds!!

Travel

There is probably a reason why I haven´t traveled soo long before because it is not fun at all! So we left the MTC Monday morning after saying by to the Sweedes, Nords, and Dutchies,which was sad, took a bus to the train and went to the airport. I felt like a superstar in the Salt lake airport! It was sweet! Everyone was saying like thanks for your service and people actaully bought me lunch! And it was so clutch to call the fam!! Then we went to Chicago, got delayed, then hit up the long journey to London!! It was horrible!! Then we missed our flight because of the dealy so we chilled in the London airport for like five hours!! That consisted of getting destroyed at chess by the master mind ædlste shuppy, and exploring, and trying to sleep! Then finally we got to our flight and we heard people speak danish and they were talking so fast! It was like, thats not the language they taught me at the MTC!!! Shout out to Elder Calhoun and the best two years haha!!! Then after a long two hour flight with a sweet conversation with an old english man and a sweedish man....WE ARRIVED!

First Day

So we got to Denmark about 7 hours behind the scheduled time because of flights. We took the squad pics because of course we have to, met the aps who are dope and then drove to the Præsidents hjem. Then we ate dinner and dessert which was sooo good, and then had a ping pong tournament and went to bed. Our missions president is sweet! Then we woke up, ate breakfast and went to copenhagen. We did some driving record stuff, had interviews with the mission president and then went street contacting. I went with Ældste Jepson who is sweet and i got no one to talk to me but it was fun and ight. Then after we ate pizza and met our trainers!!! So Ill start with my area, my first area in Denmark is...........

Ballerup

Im serving in Ballerup!!! So no one will probably know where that is so it is like thirty minutes away from down town Copenhagen. It is a sweet place! So i live with four elders in a house!!! A house just for ourselves!! It is the coolest thing every for sure!!! I live with Elder Poff and Elder Williams, who are soo awesome, and my trainer! So we bike a lot and use the train all the time. It is definately a different style a living but Denmark is beautiful! All the old houses and the trees are just sick!! So there is like some old houses but it still kind of looks like America in a way. You might get mislead by my pictures ill send but it is soo awesome. The church is like 45 minutes away so thats pretty far, but it has a basketball court!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, a basketball court!!! Today we have a zone Halloween party but me and my comp are going to play basketball during it haha!! I am in heaven!! Last Friday we played volleyball with some of the men in the ward and that was so fun!  Oh and there are two sisters in our ward and one of them is named Søster Reed! And there is another søster reed also. It is crazy!!!! Reed is the best name haha!!

Trainer

So my trainer is..... Ældste Gudmundson!! He is soo sick! We have soooo much in common! So during my interview with the mission prez he told me i would love my trainer and that is sooo true! When Presient O bryant was saying who was with who, he said ældste gudmundson wants someone who is athletic and plays sports and right when he said that i grabbed my bag and just waited for him to say my name! haha it was awesome! So he is from utah, of cousre everyone is, and played football. He is walking on at Utah State after his mission which is dope. So we talk sports all the time and we also work hard so i am going to be great for these first three months! I am so excited to do the work with him!

Danish

Oh man.... haha!! They talk sooo fast here!!! Its ight tho. I just look at people when they talk to me, and then just look at my trainer, like what did they say, it was funny! Oh, so my first door aproach was really funny too. I said my little spil and everything, and the guy was like, i didnt catch that in english and it was hard not to laugh. Woops! So we dont have that many investigators, and I havnt taught in Danish yet because the people we taught dont speak danish. Oh, and I love contacting!! It is so fun! I go up to people and say in danish, my friend and i are from usa and are trying to learn danish can you help us say, røde grøde med fløde. And that is really hard for americans to say. Then they usually will help me and then we are like, by the way.. we are missionaries and... haha its fun stuff! So church was crazy!!!! I didnt understand like anything! They talked so fast but its ight. it was fun trying to talk with the members. All of the people i have talked with say i pronounce my words good and everything so that is something positive! 

Work

So the work is slow but we are trying like crazy to find people to teach. We have given out a couple Book of Mormons which isnt usual here in this mission and we got a couple numbers that we are going to try so that will be fun! Oh on Fridays we have a zone challenge and this weeks was place a book of mormon and twenty pass a long cards and me and ældste gudmundson did them all and won for the week! Good stuff!

Soccer

I am so so so so so grateful i brought my soccer cleats because every saturday we have zone soccer and it is great!! We even pladed on a turf field. It was so much fun! I did work of course haha. Crazy to realize that i am in flipping denmark playing soccer on a turf field. It definately made my week!

Food

The food is fantastik! It is soo good. I have had an eating appointment everyday so far and it has been so great!!! I even gave the spirtual thought at one which was fun too!!! I feel fat though haha! But ill bike it off! Oh speaking of bikes, i got a free one in great condition from someone i served and helped them move. I think ill look for a good bike by the end of the second transfer here and get it. But the food is sooooo good. And all the members are soo nice. Yesterday we ate with the bishop and hsi family, and then had more food at our mission leaders house and i love them. Our bishop is funny and sooo awesome! And i love our mission leaders family! His sons all play soccer so nwe are already great friends.

So i am loving it here so far. Life is good, but maybe a little cold, but i am in a good area, with a good companion, and just loving everything about it. I love you all. Vi ses indtil næste uge!! Jeg elsker jer alle!!! Kirken er sandt!

Ældste Reed

Welcome to Denmark!

Week # 5 MTC

Va sa famalie og alle meneskenne i jorden eller hvem som helst leaser denne blog!! Rejserplanen!!!!! Travel Plans!!!! Aye!!! Where in the world did the time go! This is getting so real and I am so pumped to begin my journey in Danmark!! 

Travel Plans!

So im pretty a thousand percent sure mom and dad are dying to hear this.... So we are leaving on Monday!!! So I'll take a pic of the travel plans so you can see them but we leave for the airport at 8ish but i think we'll get there around ten so thats when you should be expecting a call! Get ready to hear Danish also!!! Haha! We fly out of Salt Lake at 1:25 get to Chicago at 5:34, have a lay over, maybe another call from me ;) and then we fly to London and then Denmark!!! The district and me were so pumped to get our travel plans!! This week has flown by but that just made me want to work harder on studying Danish!

TRC

So if you remember what TRC is, it is like home teaching in Danish, and don't worry dad, I actually give the lesson and don't let my comp do all the talking like our old times at home teaching!! Haha anyways so I thought we were just teaching someone face to face that new Danish, but we got to skype!! That was soo sick!! I talked to a lady who lived in Kobenhavn!! It was sweet but it was hard to hear her because the connection was bad but it was fun! We gave a lesson on Ponderizing, and invited her to do it every week and she accepted haha!! Yes!! Already helping the Danish people! 

Goodbyes

So me and the district had to say goodbye to one of our teachers last week. He got back from his mission last winter. So he left for a vacation to go to Spain and Denmark. I think because his "friend" who he met in singles ward in Utah is from Denmark and her family is from Spain or whatever. Anyways, he told us this story how they met and everything and so he is pretty much dating a Dane so i mean, goals! After the mission of course. But we said by which was sad then we were like half way down the steps and then we were like, we need to see a picture of her, so we like went back and asked him for one and he got all red and everything, but lets just say his Danish girl is one choiced daughter of God haha! It was really funny but sad at the same time.

Pranks

So I went back to the rez after a meal one day and there was a chair from our room on my bed like there is like everyday so I had enough and put all four chairs on Elder Weese's bed which is on the top bunk! It was really funny! But when I got back after dinner that night I found my bed.... it is really hard to explain it but I will for sure send a picture of it for sure! He like put a bunch of random stuff in my bed, and tied it down with my jump rope and tied it with yo yos and locked it with padlocks! It was good work for sure but not fun to undo!! haha!! It must have took him hours to do!

Danish

So there is so much i still have to learn but I think I can struggle through every lesson! So funny story, a couple days ago I was trying to say my r's and i couldn't do it. You have to say it with the back of your throat and everything and it took me like a solid hour to get it down! I felt like Elder Calhoun from the best two years! Shout out to dad!! Oh, so the last two lessons I deffinately killed it!!! I can give a pretty swell restoration lesson without notes and I learned the first vision in Danish! Jeg sa en lyssojle lige over mit hoved, som var staerkere end solens glans, og som dalede gradvis ned, indtel den faldt pa mig. Da lyset hvilede pa mig, sa jeg to personer, hvis glans og herlighed trodser enhver beskrivelser, staende over mig i luften. Den ene af dem talte til mig, kaldte mig ved navn og sadge, mens han pegede pa den anden,"Den er min elskede Son, Hor Ham!" Good stuff!! Oh, so we learned new phrases to from the Danish sister missionary. SO when something is like literarry the worst, you would say, dodens polser! The sausage of death!! So we have been saaying that a lot now!! Haha! Oh and on Saturday night, we drilled out teacher with questions about Danmark, and after that discussion,  I am even more pumped to go! She said that they are theme parks, like lego land, that we can go to, or we can go to soccer games there ( that made me extremly happy)!! But that depends all on our new mission president! So im hoping to do all that fun stuff! Oh and I guess they go hard during Christmas!! Like they celebrate the day before Chirstmas eve, christmas eve, christmas, the day after christmas, and maybe the third little christmas so that will be awesome!! Also, I guess they party hard for new years and all missionaries have to be in at five! Crazy stuff! We got some work to do down there with all the Danes haha but I am soo pumped!

Sunday

So this was the week that the Danes would be giving the talks in sacrament meeting. I was convinced they would call my name, but they didn't!! That is sweaty stuff! haha!! We had some great lessons too! Elder Weese and Adams gave a great lesson about enduring to the end and how we need to make our light shine to people when we serve them!! We also had a great devo that night, on how we shouldn't be worried what we sound like or look like, just open our mouths!! I am so excited to talk with everyone I see. Hopefully they will understand me, and I don't sound too white, or i guess American!

Hosting

So this was really fun! Not one did we get to miss class, but we got to talk to the Senior Missionaries which was sick! So on Monday, our district got to host the new senior missionaries coming to the MTC! It was so fun to talk with them. Me and my comp had the best job of greeting them and opening the door at the MTC! The senior missionaries were so nice too!! 

So i pack today, so hopefully I can get everything in under fifty pounds or i will have to leave some stuff behind... And i need to find out what to do with my basketball shoes! I will look for Lewis at the front desk to see if he is there, but i have only seen him once at the MTC, so i might have to send them home. It makes me pretty sad that I won't really be playing basketball for 23 months, but I can live!! And we have checked the weather and its like 40s to 30s so that will be fun! Shout out to my leggings haha!! And for sure seeing Kenny is like seeing family! I love when we see each other it is soo nice!! I saw him on Sunday before we watched meet the Mormons, so we got to talk again, but its sad that I wont see any of my friends for a while now, but I got work to do in Denmark haha! I really like your ponderizing scripture, that reminds me of Ether 12: 27 that we are given trials to become stronger and that is so true! So my scripture this week is Alma 32:21 about faith! Faith is so important! I need to have faith as I go to Danmark that when i open my mouth I can have the spirit with me and my words will be filled! Good stuff! Oh shout out to Julie for the doughnuts!! They were soo clutch!! And thanks for the food and the shoes!!! I vaerkley(really) love the theme to all of your packages!!! I love you mom and dad and I want to thank you for all you have done for me! I have learned so much here at the MTC that I will definately apply for the rest of my life. I learned that this mission is not me, I am just an instrument in God's hands! Also, I learned that charity is so so important. Love your comp, love the Danish people, and just love everyone! I learned that I need to turn out and help others all the time, and ALDRIG (never) think of yourself!! Good stuff!! Also, I learned that the gift of tounges is so true but I have a long way to go. Jeg er for spaendt at tjene i Danmark! Dansk kan vaere svaert, men anden kan hjaelp alle menesker vis jeg bare oben min mund!! Jeg kan ikke vent at aendre andre meneskenne leve. Denne kirken er for sandt. Jeg kan godt lide denne evangaliet og jeg er klare at tale med alle!!! Jeg elsker jer famalie!!! Last of the good words of Elder Reed in America!!! I am soo pumped!! Next stop, Denmark!!!

Aldste Reed 

Week #4 MTC

Hej alle!! So jeg har vaere her for en maned!!!! I have been here a month!! Where did the time go!!! This probably was the most bipolar week of my life with me getting the Bubonic plague, mine folesday (b-day), and getting front row seats to see Vocal Point!!!!

Sickness

So it is kind of a blessing and a curse to get sick here at the MTC. The bad thing is you feel like crap. And there are many good things. So at the end of last p day i couldn't talk like at all. I lost my voice and it sucked!!! Then I woke up Thursday and felt soooo horrible. So I left class early and went to the doctor. Bad thing about that was that I missed TRC. But that turned to an adventure. So i went to the good ol doc and she said that something was swelling in my throat or something but I didn't have strep so she gave me a list of medicine to pick up at the pharmacy. So me and my comp hit up the "shuttle". It has like ten seats and it reminded me of the huge vans we has for our basketball trips to Cali and Alaska. Anyways we went to the pharmacy got some good stuff aka medicine and walked back to the MTC. I felt like an actual missionary like walking on streets and stuff so that was sick but i was feeling literary sick so that isn't sick! Anyways... I took a two hour nap and chilled in my rez and hit up the Danish hard. It was hard to focus but i did memorize the missionary purpose in danish so it was kind of productive! But I slowly and surly got better, but one thing i had to do was gurgle salt water which is the grossest thing of life so i do not recommend it to anyone no matter how appealing it sounds.

Min Fosledag!!!!

So what could be better than learning Danish and the good word on your birthday!!!! Haha!! So I woke up from my deathbed and I opened my box from you guys and it was clutch!!! Then i went to breakfast and went to class early because the like head of the Boy Scouts board was coming to talk to just our class! Crazy stuff- good thing i got my eagle right!!! So they weren't members so that was cool and they talked to us and saw how we learn Danish!! And then when they were leaving a woman shook my hand and was like we are related and i know you.... and i was like what.... and then she told me she was Sister Francais and that her son is serving right now in Denmark and I was like, Oh!!! I Know You!!! Haha! It was funny and really sweet! After lunch my district all rocked the party hats to my next class. We looked too fly wearing party hats around the MTC! And like everyone we passed asked whose birthday it was, and i was like mine! And like everyone said happy birthday so that was dope!!! Then they sang happy fosledag to me which was sick!! Haha! Oh then I got a bunch of cupcakes from Katelynn so shout out to her!!!!! Clutch!!!! Then when we got back to the rez we all munched out and so it was good stuff!

General Conference

So this was the first time i actually listened to every talk of General Conference but it was sick!! I only fell asleep during one talk... Ha-ha!! Anyways it was sooo good!! I got soo much out of it!! I really liked how a lot of them said the end goal is eternal life!! Good stuff! My favorite talk was definitely Durants talk on Ponderizing!!! I like his idea of putting up a scripture a week and i like that our testimony will grow if we do that, and everyone needs to be feeding that seed! My scripture this week is 2 Nephi 2:25- because we all have our agency so we can choose good and have joy! I wrote the scripture in Danish and English so that will be fun! I challenge you guys to do it too and we could share our scripture every week!!! And I also liked the talk about the sharks were on the boundary, and that is why we have commandments. I applied that to me by following all the mission rules!!! Even though something might look fun, keeping the rules will keep me safe and give me blessings which is always a good thing!!

ML Squad

So Isaac and Lexi came this week so of course I found them and took pics with them ha-ha!!! Oh and Isaac is on the same floor as me at the rez so that will be sick to talk him!! So during general conference, Kenny sat like right behind me so I talked to him for a while which was sweet! Then before Saturday afternoon session, me and Kenny told our comps that we had to go to the bathroom so they were like whatever. So me and Kenny like walked around the whole MTC and then I showed him my room! Haha I don't think we can do that but it is ight i guess!! 

Vocal Point

So like I have said many times, Sunday is one of my favorite days. So after hearing the good word for like four hours we did whatever till the devo. So me and my boy Adcox had the brilliant idea to go watch the Sunday devo in the overflow which was like a room not in the devo building that has a bunch of chairs so we could like put our legs up and stuff. But our comps were like no, we are going in so we followed them and were not happy. The moral of this story is that my comp Jensen knows whats up!!! We got to were the devos are like five minutes before it started and like all the seats were filled except for the front row. So we sat there and then flipping Vocal Point came on!! It was sooo sick!! They all bared their testimonies which was awesome and sang which is exactly what I needed because I never get to hear music here and it drives me sooo crazy!!! haha! Anyways, after me and Adcox like asked like a bunch of them for pics after so that was dope!!!!

Danish

So i still have a lot to learn but slowly but surely, Danish is coming!!! So there is this girl going to Ukraine and she is from Denmark and she like went to our class yesterday and was like I want to talk to you guys, I am going crazy not talking in Danish! Then during dinner, me, Weese, Fairbanks, and Ericksen (we all didn't do choir, woops) saw her and talked to her. She was speaking fast, but I like understood everything she said so that was sick!! It makes me so much more pumped to go to Denmark!!!! Other than that, I am just learning new words and having a great time teaching lessons!!!!

Gym

So since I have been sick i didn't go to gym for like four days and I felt so fat!!! ha ha!! I thought i gained so much weight but I way the exact same so it has got to be a lie you put on weight on the MTC. But usually I would play basketball during gym. Today I played sand volleyball which was soo fun and a little soccer. There is a new elder going to Holland who is going to play goalie at UVU and then we passed the ball with each other and juggled! It was sick!! Oh man, we will become good friends!

Fun

So Elder Fairbanks like got a bunch of balls in packages so whenever we are in the residence we always play with them! It is so much fun! He got a little soccer ball so we play meg games, and shoot "pks" on each other! But I guess the Branch president specifically said not to play soccer in the rez so that was pretty sad! But we throw this little football around so that's fun! Except.... one morning i strait up threw it and hit a light right when this grumpy janitor guy was in the hall and he got pretty mad at me so that was scary and he took the ball. But shout-out to Weese for getting it back!! Ha-ha

So I am doing good! I love being a missionary! I just am a little sick of the MTC and the repetitive schedule we do everyday but I am soo pumped to go to Denmark and preach the good word!!!! I am so excited!!!! I cant believe how fast the time has gone!! It is sinsue(crazy)!!! Jeg elsker jer mor og far!!! Huske til laeser din skrifterne hver dage!! Haha Den god ord vil velsigne din liv!! Jeg ved det!!! The church is too true!! Ha-ha!!! Oh and my flight plans get here Friday so I am soo excited!!!! I love you mom and dad and thanks for everything you have done for me!

Vi ses!!!

Aldste Reed