Humility

This week I did the strangest thing of my whole life...

its called "Feet a Fish" or in other words- a fabulous foot treatment where little Garra Rufa fishes from the rivers of Turkey nip at your feet and eat off all the hard/dead skin. 

 

Oh my goodness it was so crazy! I accidentally shrieked when I stuck my feet into the water and dozens of little parasite fish started chewing on my feet. But my missionary feet have never felt better!

Believe it or not this trip to the foot spa was our district activity! 

How hilarious.

 

Its been a really good week! Twice as miserably cold as last week.... but just as wonderfully good. 

We met with our rad Polish friend again this week. We had been really thoughtful and prayerful about what we should share with her, because its been really hard to know what to teach and how to help her. And we decided that we needed to have a lesson about humility. Because she is so happy and independent and strong, and has a hard time accepting all of the gospel doctrines and principles. We've been trying to help her find faith, but it takes humility to feed your faith. So we all talked about what it means to be humble. 

Whenever I've thought about humility before, I've always thought of it as someone who is passive and quiet and confidence-less. But really, that's not it at all! 

Humility isn't thinking less of yourself, its thinking of yourself less.

Humility is turning outward and thinking about others and how you can help them. Its putting aside your selfish natural man desires and acting on something greater. To be humble is to recognize your weaknesses and to realize that sometimes you are wrong. Its to accept the fact that you can't do everything alone and to accept help from others and from God. Being humble is being anxious to grow and willing to change. When we are humble, we put our trust in God. We trust that God has a plan for us and we trust that He will help us. We accept His plan, we strive to follow it, and then we let Him help us all along the way.

Humility is not a sign of weakness- its a sign of spiritual strength.

As we were having this discussion and teaching this lesson, she really recognized that this was something she needed to hear and learn and work on.

And so did I. 

I think the lesson was just as much for me as it was for our  inactive friend. And the funny thing is that both my companion and the member who came to teach with us expressed that same thing... 

We ALL needed it.

We all need it.

As human beings, we need constant humility reminders. Because the reality of mankind is that we are just not naturally humble creatures!! We constantly think about ourselves and our problems and our own desires. Its the natural thing to do and its so easy to get caught up in. Sometimes we spend too much time and thought and effort trying to make ourselves happy, 

But the real way to true happiness is forgetting yourself and focusing on helping others to be happy. 

Forgetting yourself and turning outward. Turning outward to those around you, and turning outwards towards God. 

Its true, "Happiness doesn't result from what we get, but from what we give."

At the end of our lesson, we all kneeled together. And our sweet friend prayed for the first time in she-doesn't-even-know-how-long.... years and years and years.

And as the words of her humble heart-felt prayer filled the room, so did heaven.

All of the very best moments of my mission have been moments that I couldn't even see. 

Because my head was bowed and my eyes were closed.

I've been so so blessed to teach some of God's children how they can talk to Him. And so so blessed to listen to their quiet thoughts as they utter their first words of prayer. There is nothing more humbling or touching than witnessing that first communication between Father and child. 

It makes me think about my own earthly father, and how I miss him so much! And how it means the world to me and makes me so so happy to hear from Him. I know my dad misses me too. I know he loves me and that he loves hearing form me while I'm over here so far away from him.

And I know its the same way with our Heavenly Father. He misses us. He loves us. He wants so badly to hear from us while we're down here on earth away from Him. 

Some people have gone their entire lives without even knowing that they can talk with their Father.

So that's been my favorite thing as a missionary... I love handing people the phone and saying Here, call home.

Sister Hale and I wanted to do something nice for somebody this week. Its pretty hard to find service opportunities in Denmark, seeing as its like the richest country in the world....

Well it was one of our investigators birthdays, so we thought we'd bake her a cake! Turns out it was the first birthday cake she's EVER had. (I hope my baking skills lived up to her birthday cake dreams and expectations!) 

She was sooo happy that we made her a birthday cake. 

I've really realized that service projects don't have to be 4 month humanitarian trips to Africa or India (even though I am definitely doing that next year!) Sometimes it's the simple acts of thoughtful loving kindness that really mean the most.

Its about time for me to leave the library and get on with the rest of my p day.... Groceries and laundry and cleaning and all that enjoyable stuff are on the agenda today! 

Hey I love you guys a LOT and hope you have a fabulous week.

CTR. 

Sister Rogers

Brrrrrrrr

Life turned into a fairytale when we explored this incredible castle last monday...

Sister Hale and I got lost because we stayed behind in the giant ballroom and danced for at least twenty minutes. It was probably one of the top ten best moments of my life.... dancing and waltzing and twirling across the marble floor in this big fairytale castle while snowflakes were dancing and waltzing and twirling down from the European sky....

Speaking of those snowflakes...

Remember way back before I got my mission call and you guys would all ask me where I dreamed of serving, and I'd always say "somewhere cold"?

I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WAS THINKING.

My St George soul is lonnnnging for warm sunshine right about now.

This has been the coldest week of my life.

ok enough complaining lets count my blessings instead. 

The Lord has really blessed me this week with experiences that have warmed my shivering heart!

One night Sister Hale and I were on our way to an appointment we had with a less active member. We got there about ten minutes early, and the idea of escaping the freezing cold by waiting in the lobby for a bit was reeeeally tempting. But we decided to toughen up and be diligent missionaries for ten extra minutes. 

That's when I spotted a cute older man with suspenders and a bowler hat struggling with his umbrella at a bus stop a little ways down the street... We decided to go talk to him. He was so nice and friendly, and in barely understandable Danish he told us how he has been studying and reading about different religions for quite some years now. He said he would love to talk with us about our church and he accepted our card.

The next day..... He called us.

If your mouth isn't hanging open, it should be! 

THAT NEVER HAPPENS.

Cute suspender umbrella grandpa called us and set up an appointment for the next day!!! 

We decided to bring 2 of the elders along because it would be easier for elders to teach this older single man. Well it turns out that one of the elders had actually found and taught this man over a year ago! He stopped investigating because he wasn't ready to accept the gospel at that time... But when we met with Kim (the cute grandpa) he told us that he knew it wasn't a coincidence when we came up to him on the street the day before. So he had gone straight home and gotten his Book of Mormon down from the attic and started reading it again. 

The elders have met with him a few more times since then. And guess what?!?! HE IS GOING TO BE BAPTIZED.

The cute little old man that Sister Hale and I decided to talk to among all the millions of other people on the busy Copenhagen streets is going to be baptized.

Its a miracle.

God is so nice to let me be a part of His miracles.

Another sweet experience was at the end of a pretty intense lesson with an inactive Polish lady. She is probably the happiest most positive cheerful person I've ever met and I absolutely love this lady! She left the church over ten years ago because of some doubts that she has. She has a LOT of doubts and concerns and a lot of things that she doesn't understand... 

But don't we all? "There are few members of the Church who, at one time or another, have not wrestled with serious or sensitive questions." I LOVE what President Uchtdorf said.

Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.

It all comes down to faith.

I have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have faith in God.

I may not understand everything, but that's why I put my faith and trust in the only one who does.

At the end of our lesson, we simply asked our Polish friend if she knows if God is there. She said no, but that its something she would like to know. So we asked her to pray about it. And we promised her that He would let her know. Through feelings of happiness and peace, God would let her know that He is there and that He loves her.

She asked me to say the closing prayer, and so I asked God right then, to let His daughter feel of His love so that she could know that He is there and that the church is true.

After that simple prayer, she looked up with tears in her eyes and told us that she felt happy. and peaceful. and good. 

My heart stayed warm throughout the rest of that freezing cold winter day.

One day we were walking down a busy street and we decided to stop and talk to a boy who seemed to be about our age. 

(Side note: I HATE talking to boys... especially cute ones... ITS SO AWKWARD. Being a missionary automatically makes talking to boys mega aca-awkward. But we were actually told to focus on young men (Thats a weirrrd ironic thing to say to sister missionaries- "focus on young men" haha) because the church really needs some more of those. So Sister Hale and I have been trying to talk to more of them.... Or at least we've tried to stop avoiding them!)

Anyways. We started talking to this guy on the street. And we ended up talking for like 15 minutes. He was actually from Chile and was raised very Christian, and he was pretty interested in learning about our church. But when I reached into my bag to get a Book of Mormon for him, I realized that I'd just given my last Danish one away. All I had was a French copy.... dang.

"You don't happen to speak French do you?" 

"Yeah!" says the boy who's mom is from Chile and dad is from Denmark. "I actually grew up speaking French because my parents met in France!" 

NO WAY.

I've been carrying around a French book for weeks and wanting to give one away my whole mission!

I was so happy to give it to him!! dahhh. It even had a French testimony written in it from one of my friends who is on his mission in France right now.

That seriously made my whole week.

Tender tender mercy.

Lots of good things are happening in the mission field. Its been a good week! Even despite the bitter cold wind and snow and slush and rain. I've found that the best solution to being freezing cold is bearing my testimony. There's nothing like a burning testimony to warm you up from your toes to your nose!

Hot cocoa is a pretty good solution too :)

Elder L. Tom Perry said that

"This is the most remarkable era in the history of the Church. This is something that ranks with the great events that have happened in past history, like the First Vision, like the gift of the Book of Mormon, like the Restoration of the gospel, like all of the things that build that foundation for us to go forward and teach in our Father in Heaven's Kingdom."

So light your missionary hearts on fire and share your testimonies! Lets warm up the cold world. 

Jeg elsker jer. 

Have a GREAT week. 

TTYL.

Sister Rogers

 Frederiksborg Slot

 I diiiied over this giant telescope i found inside the castle!

 Virtual tour

 First snow of the season!

 Copenhagen's BEAUTIFUL graveyard

 The famous Hans Christian Andersen

 I found a billboard of my home!! i love those red rocks and red stripes!

 BRRRRR.

 Shout out to my best friend Sarah! Thanks for this box of happiness and sunshine!!

 Cowtails from Judds?? I LOVE YOU SARAH SOPHIE OAKEY.

I don't really know how to start out my letter today.

So for the 923rd time....

I love being a missionary.

Funny conversation on the street this week:

Me: We're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

nice man: the what?

Me: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

the man: I haven't heard of it...

Me: maybe you've heard of Mormons?

man: ahhhhhh yeah! Morphins! I know you guys!

Sister Hale and I had a pretty good laugh about that one.

I actually think I might have a six pack by the end of this transfer just from all the laughing that takes place.

Hey do you guys want to hear about my 21st birthday?!  

I was woken up at 6:30 sharp by Sister Hale jamming on the guitar and singing Happy Birthday to me. Then before I was even fully conscious there were balloons thrown in my face and a giant stack of warm banana blueberry pancakes for me to enjoy in my cozy bed. It doesn't even stop there.... there was a chocolate cake waiting for me at my desk. (my companion is a birthday elf or something... I have no idea when she did all this!! what a gem) 

And after blowing out my 21 candles and eating a little cake we smashed the rest in each others faces because that was my birthday wish. Tillykke med dagen!

The elders baked me a gourmet chocolate cake too!

And we all devoured it in the missionary van on the road trip to Zone Training. Best thing EVER to have zone training on my birthday! (I love zone trainings, in case I haven't mentioned that a million times before...)

I got to see my best friend SISTER GRANT! and my other best friend sister PETE! AND my MTC companion who I haven't seen once yet! It was like a family reunion of all my companions and the best birthday gift ever.

Then we all went to McDonalds for lunch. It was a dream come true! I've been wanting to go to McDonalds ever since I showed up in Europe. (sorry if I just made you fall out of your chair dad.... I know I always complained about Mcdonalds on family road trips and refused to order any food... haha)

Later that night we visited one of my favorite families in the ward and guess what.... Chocolate cake #3! good thing I love chocolate cake. And good thing calories don't count on your 21st birthday!

And to top it all off...... I got a birthday party in a box!! Thanks mom for the awesome birthday package!!! I loved EVERYTHING. Especially my very own Chris Hemsworth :) You know me all too well. 

Year 20 was so great. Even despite the rough patches and the bugs on my windshield and the rain on my parades and the bumps on my road and the clouds in my sky.... Its been so so great. 

Year 21 is going to be even better! Thanks everyone for all the birthday wishes and love!

Ok time for a way cool miracle story. 

At church last Sunday this suuuper cool girl just showed up. So my comp and I chatted with her a bit after church, and turns out she had been an exchange student in Texas a few years ago where she lived with a Mormon family. She went to church with them and really enjoyed it, and she even met with the missionaries a little bit while she was over there. She's been back in Denmark for over 3 years now and hasn't ever been to church since. But she just moved in to a new apartment with some friends.... an apartment that just happens to be on the same block as our church and the Copenhagen temple! She decided it wasn't a coincidence. So now we are meeting with her and teaching her all about the gospel because she wants to find out if the church is true! 

HOW COOL IS THAT.

Moral of the story: you should all get foreign exchange students.

Another amazing experience from this week was when I got to meet with Beatriz, the nurse we met at the hospital on Christmas day. Well, it turns out that she actually doesn't live in my proselyting area... bummmmmerrrrrr. But she actually lives in Sister Peterson's area! So I got to go on splits with Pete to go teach her! It was SO fun being comps again for the day. We both are so much better at speaking Danish and at teaching and at everything than we where when we were companions many months ago...

and the lesson was AMAZING. Like one of the most spiritual powerful lessons I've ever had. It was like heaven and earth had aligned, because we found someone that the Lord had truly prepared. She is totally getting baptized someday. 

One night this week we were headed home on the S Tog (a super speedy mini train that looks like a futuristic time traveling spaceship.... or in other words, a subway) and I felt like I hadn't been too productive that day. We had a lot of appointments fall through and just hadn't had any success. So I turned to my companion and said "I'm going to give this book away!" of course that had been the intention all day.... to give away book of Mormons. ( is it book of mormons? or books of mormon? I'll go with books of mormons :) But this time my intent was a little more real and my faith was a little bit bigger. 

We only had two minutes left on the time traveling spaceship train. So I had a two minute conversation that started with me saying "hey you have really cool nail polish!" and somehow ended with her saying "yeah sure I'd love a copy!" as I handed her a Book of Mormon and hopped of the train. 

Who says missionary work has to be hard??! 

All you have to do is have faith and real intent. And then open your mouth.

I'm gonna go explore a big castle with my missionary friends now...

Hope your monday is magical too!

XOXO

Sister Rog

what often happens between the hour of 9:30 and 10:30 pm....

candle lit hippie headband guitar playing tea parties

:)

21 and half way done

Happy 2014!!

I hope you all had a great time eating little smokies and a cheeseball with crackers and banging pots and pans and watching that sparkly ball drop and whatever else it is people do to celebrate the new year over there in America.

My new years ROCKED.

Søster Hale and I jumped into 2014 (literally though... that's the tradition here- to climb up on the furniture or whatever you can find to climb on during the countdown and then actually jump into the new year) with all the Elders in our area, our 61 year old Chinese investigator, and the cuuuutest little Danish/Scottish family from our ward. We listened to the Queen's new years speech, feasted on deeeelicious gourmet food, jammed on guitars and sang lots of songs, and watched millions of fireworks explode along every inch of the Copenhagen skyline.

But my favorite part of the evening was when we went around the table and everyone shared their biggest highlight from 2013, and then around again with one thing everyone learned. It was so special hearing about all the wonderful things that happened for so many different people in the year 2013. My thoughts were instantly flooded by all of my own amazing memories the past year left me with...

Like that one time when Amanda and Melissa and I decided we wanted to go to San Francisco. So we bought plane tickets before we could think of a good reason why not! 

And the sacred day when I went through the temple for the very first time.

And that one time I got to spend a day in New York City all by myself.

And then the awesome day when my brother Kaden came home from his mission!! Reunited after 2 long years...

There was that special weekend when Kaden and I road tripped to all of the temples in Utah...

and not too long after was my mission farewell and my brother's homecoming.

My experience at the MTC was a huge highlight! I loved everything about the 6 weeks I spent in the missionary training center.

I also got to spend a few weeks serving in the St Louis Missouri mission. 

and then on June 10th I set foot in Denmark for the first time.

There are too many wonderful memories and since then than I can even count... Knocking on doors in the pouring rain, teaching people about the gospel, walking down cobble stone streets with my different amazing companions, meeting some of the most incredible people, dolphin watching and bike riding and food trying and song singing etc etc etc etc etc....

But of all the great things I did and saw and experienced, it was so easy for me to pick out my biggest highlight.

April 10th 2013.

When I was set apart as a full time missionary and my black name tag was pinned onto my shirt.

Nothing could top that feeling. It was the crowning moment of my year. 

And will probably always remain up in the crowning moments and biggest highlights of my entire life.

Then as I got thinking about what I learned over the past year, I realized that I've probably learned and grown more than I have the rest of my life combined! If I had to describe 2013 in one word, I think I would use a word like "change" or "progress" or "growth" or even "metamorphosis." Because I really have learned SO much and have traveled so far down the path toward becoming who I want to become.

I learned how important my family is to me, and how important the word "family" is to the world and to life in general. I've never been so far from my family as I have been this past year. And I've never gone so long without seeing them. Now I've realized more than ever just how important my family is to me. They mean the whole world!

I also learned a lot about what it means to trust in the Lord. I've never needed Him so much. I've never turned to Him so much. He's never helped me so much or been so near. I've had ups and down and a lot of challenges and struggles as I've been forced out of my comfort zone and faced things I never before imagined. But as I've learned to trust and rely on the Lord, He has been there to help and strengthen and guide me every step of the way.

One of my favorite things that I've learned is how you can be friends with ANYBODY. I've been so blessed to meet and get to know so many different people. People from ALL over the world. People from all different cultures, of all different ages, from all walks of life. Its amazing how even though we are all so different from each other we can still connect and relate and smile.

I really learned SO much in the last year... But the one thing I decided to share around the candle lit table on new years eve was how much I've learned about God's love. Through everything that I've experienced and everything I learned in the year 2013, I learned the most about God's love. Because everything that I've experienced and everything I've learned has helped me to feel of God's love- for others and for me- and to comprehend it a tiny bit more and understand it a little bit more fully.

God is our loving Heavenly Father.

God LOVES us. 

He loves YOU and He loves me.

He understands us. He knows us. He's there for us.

That's what 2013 has taught me.

I was looking back through my journal the other day and found this quote by Jeffrey R. Holland that I had written down at the beginning of the year...

"The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead

and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future."

Its a new year now. The future is bright! 2014 has been off to a GREAT start.

Missionary work is amazing. Like its just taken off and exploded like those new years eve fireworks!

Søster Hale and I have been overwhelmed by all the people we've found, and by all the people that have found us.

In D&C 123:12 we're told that "there are many yet on the earth.. who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it."

Its true! There are so many people out there who are ready and waiting for the truth and light and happiness and good news of the gospel. But they don't know where to find it. Well its a good thing that we do! 

We just need to find them.

A couple nights ago my companion and I were on our way home, and we stopped to talk to a guy standing outside of the train station. He was really nice and told us that he had moved here from London after he was released from prison...

He got to telling us how he really turned to God and turned his life around. He told us how he used to live a really bad life, but that God has helped him change. He's a new person. And he's never been happier.

Thats what faith in God does for us. Helps us realize our greater potential, and then helps us reach it. God helps us become better than we have the ability to become on our own. All we have to do is have a little faith.

"If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (matt 17:20)

Mountains are enormous! Think of how enormous and strong those beautiful mountains you're so blessed to live by are... There is no way anybody could ever move one of those things. 

But Christ can.

And I think whats even more enormous and massive and strong and immovable than real physical rocky mountains, are the mountains within each one of us....

We all have personal mountains. Mountains of our faults and our weaknesses and our doubts and our shortcomings. Those enormous mountains tower over us and block our path to accomplishing our goals and reaching our full potential. Sometimes I feel like my mountains are taller and steeper and more daunting than Mount Everest! 

You've probably felt that way before too. Don't make the mistake of trying to climb up those steep and rocky slopes... there's no need. Christ has promised that "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove."

I know its true.

He's moved mountains in me.

Hey its a pretty big week for me! Pretty big meaning monumental... 

In a couple days I will be 21. 

And I'll also be half way done. 

Both my life and my mission are going by wayyyy too fast. I just want to be a kid forever. And a missionary forever. :(

But thank you all so much for the love and friendship throughout my life, and the encouragement and prayers throughout the first half of my mission. Its been the best 21 years. and Its been the best 9 months.

I don't know how I got so lucky and so blessed!

I love my life.

And I love my mission.

Hey!! if you wanna give me a birthday present, go give someone a Book of Mormon!!!!! or even just a smile. 

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

sorry for always getting carried away and sending you novels to read......

have a GREAT week!

MKH,

Søster Breanna Michele Rogers

New Years Eve sweaters!

New Years Day was deeeep cleaning day. Please enjoy this picture of our clean and cozy room.