Hey!
How's everything going back in the good ol' US of A?! I hear that we are doing pretty good in the Olympics. The hockey team beat Canada right? Thats awesome! How have they been doing in other events? And what have been the most exciting events to watch this year?
This past week has actually been pretty hard. Mostly because the weather has been terrible! In a couple of days it snowed at least 2 feet of snow! It's crazy! There was so much snow that everything was getting shut down. They shut the buses down, so we couldn't get to any of our appointments. And it was so bad that they even cancelled church on Sunday! Can you believe that?! The snow also makes it so that absolutely nobody wants to talk with us. Since we had to cancel our appointments, we had a ton of time that we had to fill with contacting, and we couldn't get to any good places to knock, so we just walked around on the streets near our appartment. It was pretty miserable. First of all, we were walking around in a blizzard for a couple hours, and secondly, nobody would even listen to us for 5 seconds because of the weather. Ughhh! So yeah, a couple days were pretty bad this week. I didn't even want to leave the apartment. But the last couple of days have actually been really sunny and it finally stopped snowing! I really hope that all this snow finally melts and stays melted for good!
So right now I'm actually in Frederikshavn. I think that this is the farthest north I've ever been in my life! We are here today taking Pday with the elders here, and tomorrow we will go on splits with them. It should be really fun. The Frederikshavn elders are way cool.
I actually had a pretty cool experience a few days ago contacting. It was one of the days that it wasn't snowing. I was on my own contacting, we usually split up now when we contact to get more done, and as Elder Dalton says ''President told me to let you struggle'' and he is definatlely doing that. Anyway, so I was contacting and I think I got a little extra dose of the gift of tongues when I was talking to this guy. I had a conversation with him for about 15 minutes in Danish! It was pretty cool that I could understand him for the most part, and be able to respond. We first just talked about a little bit of what I'm doing here in Denmark, I told him that I'm a missionary and all and that what I do as a missionary is share a short message with people that has blessed my life. Anyway he let me share it with him, and he asked me some questions about it that I was able to answer. And anyway, we just kept on talking for several minutes. At one point he asked me about poligamy and he thought that we practice it in our church but I cleared him up about it. Anyway, his name is Rune and I got his phone number. We'll call him and visit him later.
So, I'm trying to think of what else happened this week, but I really can't think of anything. Maybe I'll remember more later, but for now I'll respond to some of the things you said in the email.
It sounds like you have been getting good use out of the condo. Thats cool that everyone has been having so much fun with that. Too bad the weather hasn't been the best there. But I guarantee that it is better than here! The drive home sounds kinda scary, with the bad roads and all.
Oh yeah I heard about Dan's mission call! That is so cool! I heard about it, cuz Eric Boothe also got his call to London England! How cool is that?! I didn't even know that either them had been working on their papers or anything! That will be a way cool place for them to serve, and I'm sure they both are way excited!
Of course Camron is going to Japan. Haha. Thats cool! When is he gonna go? And for how long? So he is gonna do more of that Japanese tour guide stuff?
That is so cool that Jamie is having her baby! It's a girl right? Do they have a name for her? Well I suppose it'll be a week til I hear back so they better have a name by then. I hope all goes well with that. I bet they are pretty nervous but also really excited. Let me know how that all goes, and if the baby is cute or whatever.
Yeah, the Frost parents both speak English. Basically everyone here between the age of 14 or so to about 50 can speak really good English. Thats actually a problem for me. The members always just want to speak English to us, but I need to hear as much Danish as possible.
No I haven't gotten the package you sent yet. I hope it comes soon. When did you send it? I guess it will probably come this week.
Umm, well thats all I've got for this week. Sorry, not much happened here this week. Oh yeah, one more thing. Last night we went to a pizza place (yeah, we eat a lot of pizza) and we got a pizza with pepperoni and bananas! Yeah, bananas! It was actually really good! Anyway, I thought I'd mention that. Well, have a great week. Vi ses!
Love Ældste Tyler Lee
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Life here in Spanish Fork
Hi Tyler,
Are we really going to hear from you on your p-day this week? We look forward to our Wednesday morning email from Elder Tyler Lee!
We are just sitting here Tuesday night watching the Olympics and American Idol. Tani is at Young Women's working on personal progress. Tia is here measuring things for homework. She measured my toe, a Book of Mormon, the dryer, her hand, Rui and whatever else she can find. She has fun homework, huh? Jansen is also doing some fun homework. He is taking pictures from a bird's eye view, a worm's eye view, a natural frame, etc.
The past few days have been cool but sunny so it makes a big muddy mess out back for Rui. I have had to give him a bath 4 times in the last 2 days! Grrrrr! He doesn't like it and niether do I! We haven't had him in for a haircut since your farewell, I'm thinking we need to get him in and get him cleaned up!
This past weekend we went down to St. George with Grandma and Grandpa. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you about beautiful sunny St. George! In fact, there was not much sun at all. We were planning on coming home Sunday morning to be home in time for church at 1:00, but the weather called for some really yucky roads. We had almost decided to stay until Monday, but then decided to try Sunday afternoon. It seemed fine in St. George, but it was not good at all on the roads. When it usually takes us about 3:15-3:30 to ge home, it took us five hours! We saw cars off the side of the road all over. Grandma and Grandpa stayed until Monday and had a lot nicer roads to drive on.
Jansen had stayed home because his city league was on their first day of tournament. His team won. They play again tomorrow night. He is also playing church ball. I think the tournament for church ball is next month.
Oh ya! Last week at the church ball games I heard that Dan Hales received his mission call. I'll give you a few minutes to think about where he is going.
It was fun to hear about the baptism! I'm sure it is a good feeling to see someone receive the blessings you have had all of your life. It proabably makes you stop and think about what you really are doing there in Denmark!
So Cam just bought a round trip ticket to London England. Just kidding....Dan was called to London England, Cam bought a round trip ticket to Japan. Imagine that. Cam wanting to go to Japan! Blake Wise found some round trip tickets for about $600.00 so they thought they better go over and stay with some members. Cam is working on a business plan of doing some Japanese tour guide stuff so he will use this trip to help advertise what he has to offer. He hopes to be able to use our condo as a home base for touring Zions, Grand Canyon and other places.
Cousin Jamie is going into the hospital tomorrow morning to have her little bambino. I suppose she is a bit nervous tonight. It's kind of weird to think of her being a little mama! They are also buying a home to move into. They are suppose to start moving in this Saturday. So this is a wild and crazy week for them! Susan is flying out tomorrow night and will be here with her for about a week.
Ellen is still in the hospital. She was in Intesive Care for a few days, then Intermediate Care for a few days. Now she has been moved to a regular floor. She is probably going to have to be moved to a rehab care center for awhile before being able to be home. She will probably have a long recovery ahead of her.
Good luck this week with all that you are doing. We hope you are able to do lots of teaching this week. It is fun to hear about the Frost family and little Eliott. It's nice to know he helps you think of home! Does the Frost family speak Danish only? Did you ever get your late Valentine package? Sorry it wasn't too fancy.
I will let you go for now.
Love you!
Love, Mom, Dad and the gang
Are we really going to hear from you on your p-day this week? We look forward to our Wednesday morning email from Elder Tyler Lee!
We are just sitting here Tuesday night watching the Olympics and American Idol. Tani is at Young Women's working on personal progress. Tia is here measuring things for homework. She measured my toe, a Book of Mormon, the dryer, her hand, Rui and whatever else she can find. She has fun homework, huh? Jansen is also doing some fun homework. He is taking pictures from a bird's eye view, a worm's eye view, a natural frame, etc.
The past few days have been cool but sunny so it makes a big muddy mess out back for Rui. I have had to give him a bath 4 times in the last 2 days! Grrrrr! He doesn't like it and niether do I! We haven't had him in for a haircut since your farewell, I'm thinking we need to get him in and get him cleaned up!
This past weekend we went down to St. George with Grandma and Grandpa. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you about beautiful sunny St. George! In fact, there was not much sun at all. We were planning on coming home Sunday morning to be home in time for church at 1:00, but the weather called for some really yucky roads. We had almost decided to stay until Monday, but then decided to try Sunday afternoon. It seemed fine in St. George, but it was not good at all on the roads. When it usually takes us about 3:15-3:30 to ge home, it took us five hours! We saw cars off the side of the road all over. Grandma and Grandpa stayed until Monday and had a lot nicer roads to drive on.
Jansen had stayed home because his city league was on their first day of tournament. His team won. They play again tomorrow night. He is also playing church ball. I think the tournament for church ball is next month.
Oh ya! Last week at the church ball games I heard that Dan Hales received his mission call. I'll give you a few minutes to think about where he is going.
It was fun to hear about the baptism! I'm sure it is a good feeling to see someone receive the blessings you have had all of your life. It proabably makes you stop and think about what you really are doing there in Denmark!
So Cam just bought a round trip ticket to London England. Just kidding....Dan was called to London England, Cam bought a round trip ticket to Japan. Imagine that. Cam wanting to go to Japan! Blake Wise found some round trip tickets for about $600.00 so they thought they better go over and stay with some members. Cam is working on a business plan of doing some Japanese tour guide stuff so he will use this trip to help advertise what he has to offer. He hopes to be able to use our condo as a home base for touring Zions, Grand Canyon and other places.
Cousin Jamie is going into the hospital tomorrow morning to have her little bambino. I suppose she is a bit nervous tonight. It's kind of weird to think of her being a little mama! They are also buying a home to move into. They are suppose to start moving in this Saturday. So this is a wild and crazy week for them! Susan is flying out tomorrow night and will be here with her for about a week.
Ellen is still in the hospital. She was in Intesive Care for a few days, then Intermediate Care for a few days. Now she has been moved to a regular floor. She is probably going to have to be moved to a rehab care center for awhile before being able to be home. She will probably have a long recovery ahead of her.
Good luck this week with all that you are doing. We hope you are able to do lots of teaching this week. It is fun to hear about the Frost family and little Eliott. It's nice to know he helps you think of home! Does the Frost family speak Danish only? Did you ever get your late Valentine package? Sorry it wasn't too fancy.
I will let you go for now.
Love you!
Love, Mom, Dad and the gang
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Baptism, Train rides, Pizza, etc....
Hey!!
Sorry that you didn't get your letter at the usual time again. This time I wasn't at a rainforest, but I was down in Odense for the day. We had the new missionary meeting, which means that I have now been here in Denmark for a month! Can you believe that?! It has gone by so fast! The new missionary meeting was fun. Like I said, we went to Odense and met with all of my MTC missionaries. It was really cool to have the group back together for awhile. We talked about how everything is going and what we thought of the first month in the land. We also talked about what we are doing well and what we can improve on. It was good talking to the other missionaries that are on my same level.
After the meeting we got some HUGE pizzas! The biggest pizza I have ever seen in my life! It was literally 4 feet across! It was way good too. I think that the pizza here in Denmark is better than the pizza in America.
After that, we all took our P-day together there (except for Elder Van Nevel and his comp, they had to leave) It was fun. We went bowling! I did pretty crappy though. I think I got 96. It was so frusterating, cuz I had no problem getting 9 pins down, but that last pin just refused to fall! We started a second game, but ran out of time at about frame 6 or 7, and I was doing better that game.
Then we went a looked around at some stores. I didn't buy anything, I'm trying not to spend to much money for awhile. I think I might pick up on some of this European style though.
Yeah, so that was fun to spend the day with my mtc buddies. We had to leave at like 6 to catch our train. It was about 3 and a half hours each way, so we spent 7 hours on the train yesterday. The trains are pretty nice and comfortable but I've had enough of the train, and I don't want to see another train for a long time! Oh so there was also that train ride to Copenhagen and back that we did on Saturday! That one was long! I think it was like 4 and a half hours each way. The baptism was really good though. The guy getting baptized was named Eric Eboh. He is probably in his late 20's. He's a black guy from somewhere in Africa, I can't remember where. He's way cool though. I could tell that he was ready for baptism, and he was so excited for it! After the baptism we took him out to dinner. We were going to take him to the hard rock cafe, but it was an hour and a half wait, so we just got pizza. It was cool seeing how excited Eric was for baptism, and I hope I get to take part in many more baptisms while I'm here.
We had yet another trip this week. We went to Frederacia on monday for zone conference! That trip wasn't quite as long. It took about 2 hours each way, and we drove with the Ægtepar (married couple missionaries). Zone conference was really good too. Me and Elder Shreeve are in the same zone so I got to hang with him while we were there.
So anyway, the last couple of weeks have been really crazy. I think we are pretty much done with travels for awhile though and we can get back into the regular missionary routine. Oh actually next week were going on spits up to Frederikshavn, but other than that I think it is regular.
Hmm, I'm trying to remember what else I did since the last email. Oh, we had a dinner appointment with an awesome family in our ward. The Frost family. They have 5 kids and there second youngest reminds me a TON of Tia! His name is Elliot and he is 5 years old. He reminds me of Tia cuz he is so clingy and all. Like he would run over to me and cling onto my leg and make me walk around with him on my leg, or he would grab my hands and jump and I'd lift him up in the air. Just like with Tia. And I thought it was funny that he just assumes that I can understand everything he says, haha. It's really fun spending some time with the families in the ward.
Well now I'll respond to some of what you told me and try to answer your questions.
That's crazy what happened in the Olympics. That must have been a bit of a shock when that death happened. Hopefully the rest of the Olympics go well. I always thought the Olympic games were pretty cool to watch. Are there any super athletes in it this year that everyone is talking about? Like in the summer games it was Michael Phelps.
I'm sorry to hear what happened to Ellen Lotz. That is scary! I'm glad to hear that she is ok though, and that she is getting better. I hope that she keeps getting better.
We don't have a car all the time, we usually just take the bus. The car belongs to the ægtepar, but they let us use it a lot. I don't know why I didn't have to get a license here. I guess its because the driving rules and everything are so similar here. Pretty much the only difference is that you can't turn right on a red light. So I just need to have my American license and my passport. And don't worry mom, I've been a safe driver. There haven't been too many scary driving situations.
Well, Imma get going now. Have a great week, and I'll write back next week. Vi ses!
Love Ældste Tyler Lee
Sorry that you didn't get your letter at the usual time again. This time I wasn't at a rainforest, but I was down in Odense for the day. We had the new missionary meeting, which means that I have now been here in Denmark for a month! Can you believe that?! It has gone by so fast! The new missionary meeting was fun. Like I said, we went to Odense and met with all of my MTC missionaries. It was really cool to have the group back together for awhile. We talked about how everything is going and what we thought of the first month in the land. We also talked about what we are doing well and what we can improve on. It was good talking to the other missionaries that are on my same level.
After the meeting we got some HUGE pizzas! The biggest pizza I have ever seen in my life! It was literally 4 feet across! It was way good too. I think that the pizza here in Denmark is better than the pizza in America.
After that, we all took our P-day together there (except for Elder Van Nevel and his comp, they had to leave) It was fun. We went bowling! I did pretty crappy though. I think I got 96. It was so frusterating, cuz I had no problem getting 9 pins down, but that last pin just refused to fall! We started a second game, but ran out of time at about frame 6 or 7, and I was doing better that game.
Then we went a looked around at some stores. I didn't buy anything, I'm trying not to spend to much money for awhile. I think I might pick up on some of this European style though.
Yeah, so that was fun to spend the day with my mtc buddies. We had to leave at like 6 to catch our train. It was about 3 and a half hours each way, so we spent 7 hours on the train yesterday. The trains are pretty nice and comfortable but I've had enough of the train, and I don't want to see another train for a long time! Oh so there was also that train ride to Copenhagen and back that we did on Saturday! That one was long! I think it was like 4 and a half hours each way. The baptism was really good though. The guy getting baptized was named Eric Eboh. He is probably in his late 20's. He's a black guy from somewhere in Africa, I can't remember where. He's way cool though. I could tell that he was ready for baptism, and he was so excited for it! After the baptism we took him out to dinner. We were going to take him to the hard rock cafe, but it was an hour and a half wait, so we just got pizza. It was cool seeing how excited Eric was for baptism, and I hope I get to take part in many more baptisms while I'm here.
We had yet another trip this week. We went to Frederacia on monday for zone conference! That trip wasn't quite as long. It took about 2 hours each way, and we drove with the Ægtepar (married couple missionaries). Zone conference was really good too. Me and Elder Shreeve are in the same zone so I got to hang with him while we were there.
So anyway, the last couple of weeks have been really crazy. I think we are pretty much done with travels for awhile though and we can get back into the regular missionary routine. Oh actually next week were going on spits up to Frederikshavn, but other than that I think it is regular.
Hmm, I'm trying to remember what else I did since the last email. Oh, we had a dinner appointment with an awesome family in our ward. The Frost family. They have 5 kids and there second youngest reminds me a TON of Tia! His name is Elliot and he is 5 years old. He reminds me of Tia cuz he is so clingy and all. Like he would run over to me and cling onto my leg and make me walk around with him on my leg, or he would grab my hands and jump and I'd lift him up in the air. Just like with Tia. And I thought it was funny that he just assumes that I can understand everything he says, haha. It's really fun spending some time with the families in the ward.
Well now I'll respond to some of what you told me and try to answer your questions.
That's crazy what happened in the Olympics. That must have been a bit of a shock when that death happened. Hopefully the rest of the Olympics go well. I always thought the Olympic games were pretty cool to watch. Are there any super athletes in it this year that everyone is talking about? Like in the summer games it was Michael Phelps.
I'm sorry to hear what happened to Ellen Lotz. That is scary! I'm glad to hear that she is ok though, and that she is getting better. I hope that she keeps getting better.
We don't have a car all the time, we usually just take the bus. The car belongs to the ægtepar, but they let us use it a lot. I don't know why I didn't have to get a license here. I guess its because the driving rules and everything are so similar here. Pretty much the only difference is that you can't turn right on a red light. So I just need to have my American license and my passport. And don't worry mom, I've been a safe driver. There haven't been too many scary driving situations.
Well, Imma get going now. Have a great week, and I'll write back next week. Vi ses!
Love Ældste Tyler Lee
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
I touched a monkey and an armadillo!
Hey there!!
Yup, I petted a couple of monkeys, an armadillo, and a few other weird creatures. Yesterday we went on a district activity to Randers Regnskov (Rainforest). It was way cool. It's like 3 big domes with man-made rainforests in them, with all sorts of animals. And the coolest thing is that a lot of them just roam free! Some animals are behind glass or fences, but many of them are just out in the open. I'll tell ya a bit more about it. So first we went into a big dome that had all sorts of birds and monkeys and other critters. It was ok, but they weren't as friendly as animals later. So next we went to the snake room! There were some snakes behind glass that we looked at, and then we went into the snake room where there is no glass or anything. The snakes just are there with you! And there were a lot of them! Just slithering around everywhere or hanging out on a branch right by our heads! It was way cool, and a bit creepy. Ok after the snake room I think we went to the aquarium. There were all sorts of fish and even a shark. After that we went to the bat cave. It was the creepiest part of the whole place. It was just a dark cave that we went into, and bats just fly around everywhere. They were whizzing past right next to our heads and everthing!! Oh, and in the bat cave there were 2 red buttons that they say to push for a light to turn on, so someone reached over, I think it was Elder LeFevre, and he pushed the button, and when he pushed it, a light turned on where his hand was, and there were thousands of cockroaches all around the button! I don't think a group of 6 missionaries have ever screamed so loud. hahaha. So after the bat cave (we got out of there pretty quick), we went to South America land. It was the best part by far! Thats where we hung out with the monkeys and all that. We walked into South America land, and the first thing we saw was a huge fat sea manitee! They are huge! After that we went to the armadillos. We grabbed some cauliflower and they came right over and ate it out of our hands! So we petted them and stuff, armadillos are so weird! Then we went a bit further and saw two monkeys that were really close, so we went over there, and they came right up to us! We were petting them and everything! It was awesome! Monkeys are way cool! Anyway, thats about it for our rainforest experience. I got plenty of pictures and some videos. It was way fun! After the rainforest we got some pizzas and watched bedtime stories, so that was fun too. Anyway, so that is why you didn't get an email from me at the usual time. We were out of town for most of the day.
There has actually been a lot going on lately. We have been on splits a couple times. The zone leaders and the Frederikshavn Elders came here, and also we went to the Rander's Elders on splits, so we have been seeing a lot of other Elders lately. It's fun being around other missionaries besides my companion that I'm with all day.
On tuesday we had interviews in Århus. So we took the train there and met up with the mission president and other missionaries in our zone. We went to a backery there that has a reputation among the missionaries for being the best bakery in Denmark. Its called Lang Næse Bageri, which means Long Nose Bakery. It was delicious!
Yup so it has been crazy lately. A lot going on. On saturday we are going to go to Copenhagen for a baptism. Elder Dalton is baptizing someone that he taught there. That should be exciting! (Apart from the 5 hour train ride each way)
Well, so thats what has been going on with me lately. Now I'll try to answer some of your questions.
The weather has been a bit better lately. Today is actually a sunny day. I've hardly seen anything like that while I've been here! The snow has melted quite a bit over the last week, and I really hope it continues to melt. I've had enough of it. It is weird that the sun goes down so early. I'm not exactly sure when that changes. I'm sure it'll be just as weird to me when the sun is up all day! They told me that for awhile in the summer I'll never see it rise or set, because it rises before I wake up, and sets after bedtime. Weird!
I'm glad your sending me a package! Try not to make it too big though cuz it's pretty expensive to send stuff here. There are a couple things that I thought of that I want if you don't mind sending them with. Along with that other stuff I want you to send my guitar tuner and that Michael Dowdle guitar hymn book. Umm and thats all I can think of. Thanks :)
Oh yeah, I heard about the Payson Temple announcement! Thats really cool! One of the missionaries was actually telling me that his sister lives in payson and one day she looked out the window and saw the First Presidency walking around in a field! It's where they are going to build the Temple. How weird would that be to look out the window and see that?!
Wow, so Pres. Wadley is still the stake president? He has been it for so long! I wonder if he will still be there when I return from my mission!
Yeah, the debit card has worked fine so far. I've only used it a couple times so far, but it worked fine. Don't worry, I wont go on a shopping spree. I don't think I'll make any more big purchases for awhile.
The food is still way good! I've only had one thing that I don't like so far, and its not even something Danish. My companion had me try some oatmeal for breakfast once, and it was nasty. So I haven't had that again. Other than that I have liked everything! I'm already getting tired of potatoes, cuz they have them with like every meal, but the food is always good. It is usually some kind of meat with potatoes, but there have been other things. One of my favorite meals I've had here was kinda like a hawaiian haystack, but with a curry sauce. It was way good.
The Danish still seems about the same. Always just slowly improving. We actually haven't seen that girl from the library again. We haven't been able to get a hold of her.
So you booked a cruise huh? I'm super jealous! But I guess its alright. I'm basically on a two year vacation in denmark right now. Have fun on the cruise, and I hope there aren't too many complications this time. You've never had the best of luck with cruises.
Well, I'm getting bored of typing, and I still have another email I need to write, so Imma wrap this one up. Jeg håbe at I har en vidunderlig ug! ( I hope you have a wonderful week!) (its pronounced nothing like you think) Aight, well, bye for now!
Love Elder Tyler Lee
Yup, I petted a couple of monkeys, an armadillo, and a few other weird creatures. Yesterday we went on a district activity to Randers Regnskov (Rainforest). It was way cool. It's like 3 big domes with man-made rainforests in them, with all sorts of animals. And the coolest thing is that a lot of them just roam free! Some animals are behind glass or fences, but many of them are just out in the open. I'll tell ya a bit more about it. So first we went into a big dome that had all sorts of birds and monkeys and other critters. It was ok, but they weren't as friendly as animals later. So next we went to the snake room! There were some snakes behind glass that we looked at, and then we went into the snake room where there is no glass or anything. The snakes just are there with you! And there were a lot of them! Just slithering around everywhere or hanging out on a branch right by our heads! It was way cool, and a bit creepy. Ok after the snake room I think we went to the aquarium. There were all sorts of fish and even a shark. After that we went to the bat cave. It was the creepiest part of the whole place. It was just a dark cave that we went into, and bats just fly around everywhere. They were whizzing past right next to our heads and everthing!! Oh, and in the bat cave there were 2 red buttons that they say to push for a light to turn on, so someone reached over, I think it was Elder LeFevre, and he pushed the button, and when he pushed it, a light turned on where his hand was, and there were thousands of cockroaches all around the button! I don't think a group of 6 missionaries have ever screamed so loud. hahaha. So after the bat cave (we got out of there pretty quick), we went to South America land. It was the best part by far! Thats where we hung out with the monkeys and all that. We walked into South America land, and the first thing we saw was a huge fat sea manitee! They are huge! After that we went to the armadillos. We grabbed some cauliflower and they came right over and ate it out of our hands! So we petted them and stuff, armadillos are so weird! Then we went a bit further and saw two monkeys that were really close, so we went over there, and they came right up to us! We were petting them and everything! It was awesome! Monkeys are way cool! Anyway, thats about it for our rainforest experience. I got plenty of pictures and some videos. It was way fun! After the rainforest we got some pizzas and watched bedtime stories, so that was fun too. Anyway, so that is why you didn't get an email from me at the usual time. We were out of town for most of the day.
There has actually been a lot going on lately. We have been on splits a couple times. The zone leaders and the Frederikshavn Elders came here, and also we went to the Rander's Elders on splits, so we have been seeing a lot of other Elders lately. It's fun being around other missionaries besides my companion that I'm with all day.
On tuesday we had interviews in Århus. So we took the train there and met up with the mission president and other missionaries in our zone. We went to a backery there that has a reputation among the missionaries for being the best bakery in Denmark. Its called Lang Næse Bageri, which means Long Nose Bakery. It was delicious!
Yup so it has been crazy lately. A lot going on. On saturday we are going to go to Copenhagen for a baptism. Elder Dalton is baptizing someone that he taught there. That should be exciting! (Apart from the 5 hour train ride each way)
Well, so thats what has been going on with me lately. Now I'll try to answer some of your questions.
The weather has been a bit better lately. Today is actually a sunny day. I've hardly seen anything like that while I've been here! The snow has melted quite a bit over the last week, and I really hope it continues to melt. I've had enough of it. It is weird that the sun goes down so early. I'm not exactly sure when that changes. I'm sure it'll be just as weird to me when the sun is up all day! They told me that for awhile in the summer I'll never see it rise or set, because it rises before I wake up, and sets after bedtime. Weird!
I'm glad your sending me a package! Try not to make it too big though cuz it's pretty expensive to send stuff here. There are a couple things that I thought of that I want if you don't mind sending them with. Along with that other stuff I want you to send my guitar tuner and that Michael Dowdle guitar hymn book. Umm and thats all I can think of. Thanks :)
Oh yeah, I heard about the Payson Temple announcement! Thats really cool! One of the missionaries was actually telling me that his sister lives in payson and one day she looked out the window and saw the First Presidency walking around in a field! It's where they are going to build the Temple. How weird would that be to look out the window and see that?!
Wow, so Pres. Wadley is still the stake president? He has been it for so long! I wonder if he will still be there when I return from my mission!
Yeah, the debit card has worked fine so far. I've only used it a couple times so far, but it worked fine. Don't worry, I wont go on a shopping spree. I don't think I'll make any more big purchases for awhile.
The food is still way good! I've only had one thing that I don't like so far, and its not even something Danish. My companion had me try some oatmeal for breakfast once, and it was nasty. So I haven't had that again. Other than that I have liked everything! I'm already getting tired of potatoes, cuz they have them with like every meal, but the food is always good. It is usually some kind of meat with potatoes, but there have been other things. One of my favorite meals I've had here was kinda like a hawaiian haystack, but with a curry sauce. It was way good.
The Danish still seems about the same. Always just slowly improving. We actually haven't seen that girl from the library again. We haven't been able to get a hold of her.
So you booked a cruise huh? I'm super jealous! But I guess its alright. I'm basically on a two year vacation in denmark right now. Have fun on the cruise, and I hope there aren't too many complications this time. You've never had the best of luck with cruises.
Well, I'm getting bored of typing, and I still have another email I need to write, so Imma wrap this one up. Jeg håbe at I har en vidunderlig ug! ( I hope you have a wonderful week!) (its pronounced nothing like you think) Aight, well, bye for now!
Love Elder Tyler Lee
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Guitars, goths and so on.....
Hi! Wow, It's already that time of the week again! It's crazy how fast Wednesdays seem to roll around. Is it that way for you too? Because for me it seems like I was just in here yesterday sending you an email.This week has been a really good one! We have been doing a lot of finding lately and we have found a few new investigators. We've been back to teach some of them and they are way nice, great people. I really hope that they will be accepting and be able to come closer to Christ. I'm starting to get a little more comfortable with speaking Danish. I feel like I do alright with the lessons, but still I hardly understand anything that people say to me. I really hope that the gift of tongues kicks in soon. At church on sunday I was actually able to understand the majority of what they said in the sacrament meeting talks. That was cool. I can't wait til I can just understand any conversation and be able to respond. I guess I just need to be patient and keep working hard.This week I made a couple of awesome purchases! I got a guitar! It cost about 1000 krones (which is around 200 dollars for you Americans) It was pretty much the cheapest one I could find, but it's an alright guitar. It's been really fun to sit down and play a few songs every once in awhile. Oh, I spoke to soon about my calluses. They did go. My fingers were way sore and blistery, but I'm starting to get my calluses back. The music store that I went to to get my guitar was so awesome! I guess its like the biggest in Denmark or something. It was way huge! Bigger than any music store I have ever seen! They had everything. I couldn't resist, I had to sit down on a drum set for a few minutes and rock out. It was way fun!My other purchase this week was I got a new European suit! It was a way good deal too! It cost 500 Krones (100 dollars) for the suit and pants! I like European suits way better than American ones. They are a bit tighter. Not way loose like American suits always are. So it's a little more stylish. Oh so that reminds me. Does the money come out of my account when I use the debit card, or is it dad's? Also how much is on it? Not that I'm gonna go on a huge shopping spree or anything, I just think that's important to know. Hahahaha, that was a way funny story that you told me about the incident with the suspected robbery and police and everything. I can imagine you getting way creeped out about that. And it's so funny that it was only Paul Tuckett doing a good deed for you. Hahahaha!!That's so cool how well Tia did in the spelling bee! She's a smart little girl! 3rd place! Wow! Impressive! But yeah, I bet that's kinda hard to get that close to the end and then mess up. What was the word that got her out? Yeah, the ward here is really big for Denmark. I think it's the 2nd biggest. Usually more than 100 of them come, so that's pretty good. It's been pretty full in the church when I've been there. They are all way nice, and they are great, strong members. The church building we meet in is just a basic chapel. It's also pretty big for Denmark. Not as big as ours, but it has a little gym and everything in it, so It's a fair sized building. We actually go to the church gym and play sports with members and investigators every wednesday evening. We played hockey last week and it was way fun. No I haven't been able to run while I've been here. And I have absolutely no desire to in this weather. I don't even think it would be possible to! The excercise that we get is basically wednesday night sports, and then all of the walking that we do each day as missionaries.We have been pretty lucky and had many eating appointments. It's always great to have a delicious meal prepared for us. But when we have to fend for ourselves we usually just make something easy. Grilled cheese, burritos, sandwiches, etc. Also, no we haven't done the best job at keeping the place tidy. It could use a little work...Yeah, there are only 2 stakes here. Copenagen and Århus. I'm in the Århus stake right now. (sorry this email is kinda all over the place, I'm just trying to answer all your questions) Knocking on doors actually isn't too bad. There are a few college dorms here in Aalborg where we have been knocking and that is were we seem to have the most success. I don't know why, but the young people are just more open to the gospel.Oh yeah I wanted to tell you about an experience that I had the other day. So we were at the library. Elder Dalton was off looking at things and I was off looking at other things, and a girl came up to me. She was way goth. She was wearing all black, and she had crazy scary makeup on. Anyway, she came up to me and asked me if I was mormon (in danish) I said yeah, I'm a missionary. And then she said she wants to know everything about the church, which is completely uncommon. Remember I wasn't with my comp, so I was all alone. Anyway, I gave her the first lesson right there in the library and it actually went really well. Afterwards I told her that me and my companion could meet with her some other time and tell her more about our church, so she said that would be good. I asked what her name was and she said something that I couldn't understand, so I asked her to write it down, and to write her phone number. So she wrote that. It turns out that her name is 'A-D' I don't even understand how that can be a name, but like I told you she is way goth. Anyway, we'll see how teaching her goes.Umm, what else. I've been doing a bit of driving over here. It's pretty dang scary sometimes. The roads are so tiny and they are all covered in ice right now. I haven't got in an accident yet though so thats good.Well, I think I should wrap this up. It's getting too long. Oh yeah, about the memory card. I was at first thinking that you could put the pics from the memory card to the computer, but then I realized that you can't do that. So yeah it's probably best to copy them to a cd and send that. I don't know where I would be able to do that though. I don't know if I can use this computer for that. I might just wait awhile though. My comp had a 2 gig memory card and he had over 700 pics on it. I just have about 300 now, so I'll wait til it's more full probably.Well, I gotta go. Have a great week! Peace out! Love - Ældste Tyler Lee
Our letter to Tyler
Hi Tyler!
I'm just here all alone in the house while everyone else is to work and school. It's kind of strange to have only three kids around the house anymore. I wish that made it easier to keep up with housework and laundry, but it seems to be just as much as with 5 kids. Oh well, that's ok. So the other day I was sitting in the kitchen eating lunch by myself when I heard men's voices and banging out in the garage. At first I thougt it might be Jansen and some friends, (but they were suppose to be at school). Then I thought it might be dad, but I knew he was at work and it wasn't his voice. It made me a bit nervous, especially when Rui started doing his deep throat growl at the garage door. So I made sure the door was locked in the mudroom. I knew I had left the garage door up, so anyone could be in there. I went to the front door to make sure it was locked and looked out the window. I saw a white van backed up close to our van in the garage. I could only see the very front bumper because of the angle of our house. Plus the van was pulled over a little closer to the basketball hoop. It started to freak me out because I have heard of people backing right up to people's garages in plain daylight and robbing people. I wanted to call the Nielsen's or the Olsons to have them look out their window and see what they could see from there, but none of them are ever home in the day so I wasn't quite sure what to do. I decided to call down to the police station and have them have a police officer drive past our house. But when I called them to tell them they said they were going to transfer me over to dispatch, (which put me to 911!). So the dispatch guy keeps asking me all these questions and telling me to describe anything I can see. He keeps asking if I feel safe where I am and to stay on the line until police officers arrive. The longer this is going on the more nervous I become and the more shaky. I can still hear all kinds of banging and some occassional men's voices. The dispatch dude asks if I can see any police cars yet because several are on their way to my house. I can't see them yet, so he keeps talking to me to keep me on the line. Finally I see a police car and tell him. He says, "OK maam, I'll let you go to them now, have a good day." So as three police cars pull up to the house I feel safe to go out the front door. And what do I see now that I am out there?!!!!!!! Paul Tuckett and his Safelite van pulled up with him in the garage fixing our chip in our window! ha ha ha ha ha!!!! He had also been trying to get the dent out that Cam had put in the van. That's what all the banging had been. He had his radio on to some talk station which is the men's voices I could hear! I was releived but so embarassed! He said he had been driving by and saw our garage open so he decided to come and fix the things he had heard me talk about. I had no idea he was coming. He said he thought I would hear him out there and come and see what was going on. I said, "NO! I heard you out here and called the cops on you!" So anyway, we had a good laugh! The officers were really nice. They all told me that it was OK and it is much better to be safe than sorry.
Other than that, our lives have been pretty much the same around here this week. Primary keeps me going each week. I never know what the challenge of the week will be in there each Sunday. This time it was the Sunbeam class. Holy cow those kids are wriggly! Oh ya, that reminds me....we had Brielle for Saturday and Sunday while Jeremy and Heidi went to Logan to celebrate their 4th wedding anniversary. What a cute little thing she is! She was a perfect little guest! She was just happy and good the whole time she was here. She went to church with us and went into nursery so well. She never fussed at all! It was quite fun to have her here. We'll have to do that for them again sometime.
Yesterday Jansen was asked to the Sweethearts dance. There was a little fish aquarium on our front porch with swedish fish and gold fish in it. He had to look through all of them to find the letters to the name. It is Cheyenne. He already knew she was asking him, so it was easier for him to figure out than when you had to figure out Ambria's name. I still don't know how you figured that one out. He is going to answer her by giving her a bag of flour with a note that says, "Look in the flour." After about 15 minutes he is going to knock on her door with a rose with a note on it that says YES and say, "oops, wrong flower." Get it? I think that will be a fun way to answer. We decided to let him go to this dance, but no more till next year. He said he's glad we won't let him go to prom because he can't afford it anyway. He is hoping to get a job at Subway when he turns 16. It will be nice for him to get a job.....he likes to have money to spend.
So Tia ended up getting 3rd place in the spelling bee. She did so well! She got a trophy with a smart bee on it. It is really cute. She was happy to do so well, but it was hard to get out that close to the end. She got some big tears in her eyes and came down by me.
How are things with you this week? IT was nice to hear about your first week and that things seemed to be going well. I can't believe you are in a ward with 150 members. How many actually come on Sunday? What kind of building do they meet in? Are you able to still run? It sounds like kind of yucky weather to run in. Does you companion like to do excersise? He looks like he would probably like that kind of thing. What do you guys eat when you have to fend for yourselves? And how is the laundry and keeping things tidy going? Does your mission president have inspections of apartments?
If I remember right, Sally Hall said there are only 2 stakes in Denmark. Is that correct? I wish I had a mission map. Do you know if there is one available? I will try to look at the lds website and see if they have one. It would be fun to be able to keep track of where you are serving. Are you teaching anyone at the moment? How is it to knock on doors? Do the people treat you fairly decent?
This Sunday is our stake conference. Our ward choir will be singing at it. Dad and Tani are both going to help with that. I will sit out in the congregation with Tia and Jansen. We are wondering if our stake presidency will be replaced. I think it has been about 8 years for them. Plus, President Olsen's ward was just pulled from our stake into a different stake. I wonder if Bishop Webb will be in a new presidency. We will find out Sunday. Jay Jay still comes into Primary for sharing time and singing time. He sure likes it in there. A few weeks ago he hurt his ankle so he has had to have a brace on his leg. They aren't even sure what he did to himself. The first day he had the brace he could hardly stand up. But we were singing Once there was a snowman and he just HAD to stand no matter how hard it was for him. He loves that song and couldn't just sit there. It was cute to watch him try so hard.
Well, that is about all the excitment from around here this week. We look forward to our Wednesday email from you each week. I haven't got a new memory card for you yet, I will try to do that soon. But I think you should get a copy of your memory card on cd and send the cd home and make sure we have it and then just erase that card. I get nervous having you send it home without any back up copies. Let me know what you think.
I will let you go for now. We love you! You are always in our thoughts and prayers! Keep up the great work! You are awesome!
Love, Mom, Dad and the gang!
I'm just here all alone in the house while everyone else is to work and school. It's kind of strange to have only three kids around the house anymore. I wish that made it easier to keep up with housework and laundry, but it seems to be just as much as with 5 kids. Oh well, that's ok. So the other day I was sitting in the kitchen eating lunch by myself when I heard men's voices and banging out in the garage. At first I thougt it might be Jansen and some friends, (but they were suppose to be at school). Then I thought it might be dad, but I knew he was at work and it wasn't his voice. It made me a bit nervous, especially when Rui started doing his deep throat growl at the garage door. So I made sure the door was locked in the mudroom. I knew I had left the garage door up, so anyone could be in there. I went to the front door to make sure it was locked and looked out the window. I saw a white van backed up close to our van in the garage. I could only see the very front bumper because of the angle of our house. Plus the van was pulled over a little closer to the basketball hoop. It started to freak me out because I have heard of people backing right up to people's garages in plain daylight and robbing people. I wanted to call the Nielsen's or the Olsons to have them look out their window and see what they could see from there, but none of them are ever home in the day so I wasn't quite sure what to do. I decided to call down to the police station and have them have a police officer drive past our house. But when I called them to tell them they said they were going to transfer me over to dispatch, (which put me to 911!). So the dispatch guy keeps asking me all these questions and telling me to describe anything I can see. He keeps asking if I feel safe where I am and to stay on the line until police officers arrive. The longer this is going on the more nervous I become and the more shaky. I can still hear all kinds of banging and some occassional men's voices. The dispatch dude asks if I can see any police cars yet because several are on their way to my house. I can't see them yet, so he keeps talking to me to keep me on the line. Finally I see a police car and tell him. He says, "OK maam, I'll let you go to them now, have a good day." So as three police cars pull up to the house I feel safe to go out the front door. And what do I see now that I am out there?!!!!!!! Paul Tuckett and his Safelite van pulled up with him in the garage fixing our chip in our window! ha ha ha ha ha!!!! He had also been trying to get the dent out that Cam had put in the van. That's what all the banging had been. He had his radio on to some talk station which is the men's voices I could hear! I was releived but so embarassed! He said he had been driving by and saw our garage open so he decided to come and fix the things he had heard me talk about. I had no idea he was coming. He said he thought I would hear him out there and come and see what was going on. I said, "NO! I heard you out here and called the cops on you!" So anyway, we had a good laugh! The officers were really nice. They all told me that it was OK and it is much better to be safe than sorry.
Other than that, our lives have been pretty much the same around here this week. Primary keeps me going each week. I never know what the challenge of the week will be in there each Sunday. This time it was the Sunbeam class. Holy cow those kids are wriggly! Oh ya, that reminds me....we had Brielle for Saturday and Sunday while Jeremy and Heidi went to Logan to celebrate their 4th wedding anniversary. What a cute little thing she is! She was a perfect little guest! She was just happy and good the whole time she was here. She went to church with us and went into nursery so well. She never fussed at all! It was quite fun to have her here. We'll have to do that for them again sometime.
Yesterday Jansen was asked to the Sweethearts dance. There was a little fish aquarium on our front porch with swedish fish and gold fish in it. He had to look through all of them to find the letters to the name. It is Cheyenne. He already knew she was asking him, so it was easier for him to figure out than when you had to figure out Ambria's name. I still don't know how you figured that one out. He is going to answer her by giving her a bag of flour with a note that says, "Look in the flour." After about 15 minutes he is going to knock on her door with a rose with a note on it that says YES and say, "oops, wrong flower." Get it? I think that will be a fun way to answer. We decided to let him go to this dance, but no more till next year. He said he's glad we won't let him go to prom because he can't afford it anyway. He is hoping to get a job at Subway when he turns 16. It will be nice for him to get a job.....he likes to have money to spend.
So Tia ended up getting 3rd place in the spelling bee. She did so well! She got a trophy with a smart bee on it. It is really cute. She was happy to do so well, but it was hard to get out that close to the end. She got some big tears in her eyes and came down by me.
How are things with you this week? IT was nice to hear about your first week and that things seemed to be going well. I can't believe you are in a ward with 150 members. How many actually come on Sunday? What kind of building do they meet in? Are you able to still run? It sounds like kind of yucky weather to run in. Does you companion like to do excersise? He looks like he would probably like that kind of thing. What do you guys eat when you have to fend for yourselves? And how is the laundry and keeping things tidy going? Does your mission president have inspections of apartments?
If I remember right, Sally Hall said there are only 2 stakes in Denmark. Is that correct? I wish I had a mission map. Do you know if there is one available? I will try to look at the lds website and see if they have one. It would be fun to be able to keep track of where you are serving. Are you teaching anyone at the moment? How is it to knock on doors? Do the people treat you fairly decent?
This Sunday is our stake conference. Our ward choir will be singing at it. Dad and Tani are both going to help with that. I will sit out in the congregation with Tia and Jansen. We are wondering if our stake presidency will be replaced. I think it has been about 8 years for them. Plus, President Olsen's ward was just pulled from our stake into a different stake. I wonder if Bishop Webb will be in a new presidency. We will find out Sunday. Jay Jay still comes into Primary for sharing time and singing time. He sure likes it in there. A few weeks ago he hurt his ankle so he has had to have a brace on his leg. They aren't even sure what he did to himself. The first day he had the brace he could hardly stand up. But we were singing Once there was a snowman and he just HAD to stand no matter how hard it was for him. He loves that song and couldn't just sit there. It was cute to watch him try so hard.
Well, that is about all the excitment from around here this week. We look forward to our Wednesday email from you each week. I haven't got a new memory card for you yet, I will try to do that soon. But I think you should get a copy of your memory card on cd and send the cd home and make sure we have it and then just erase that card. I get nervous having you send it home without any back up copies. Let me know what you think.
I will let you go for now. We love you! You are always in our thoughts and prayers! Keep up the great work! You are awesome!
Love, Mom, Dad and the gang!
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