July 18, 2016

Hej Everyone!

I'm keeping this one short because there is a spider on my computer and I'm a Little bit scared of it, so my fingers are flying!!!!

This weeks quote: First of all, imagine a very tall Winnie the Pooh but in human form..... and then imagine him laughing at an elder and pretending to be a spider and saying 'OOOOO, jeg vil spiser dig' (I will eat you). That, ladies and gentlemen, is Leo. We ate dinner at his house, and one of the elders was scared because there was a huge spider over his head, and Leo decided that it would be really funny to bring the spider up close and personal (along with narrating its thought process). I wish you all could have seen it, because Words really don't do it Justice. I love Danes!

I have decided that one of my favorite parts of the day is planning time right before we get ready for bed. No, its not because I like being organized, its because our window faces West and I get to Watch the sun go through about 5 different sunset phases every single night. It is absolutely gorgeous.

This week, we were teaching the Syrian Family that I mentioned last week. Their daughter (WHO is 7), was saying the opening prayer, and this is what she said: 'Hi God. We like it when these girls come over, so thanks for them. We've been reading your book, and I like it. I think my dad likes it too. We all believe in you. I hope you know that.' and that was it.  I LOVE LITTLE KID PRAYERS. it was just so sweet and so personal. It was the first prayer that she has ever said and it could not have been more perfect. Plus Little kid Danish is just so cute.

I want to share a Little story about the power of testifying. Last night, we had another appointment fall through. (yes, that happens a lot) We decided to go knocking instead. We knocked on this mans door, and he answered with a slightly confused face (just for a visual, he was tall, thick, 30 ish, and wearing a zombie mummy T-shirt. Little bit intimidating). We told him that we were out to talk to people about the importance of Family. We asked what his Family has meant for him in his life, and he very sarcastically said 'Well, they're all dead, soooooo not much.' Awkward. We continued to talk and talk and he just was being very blunt (aka every Dane, ever.) and very uninterested.... Until we stopped trying to teach him and just started testifying of what the Gospel has done for us. His posture, his responses, his facial expression - it all changed. He become more relaxed, more curious, and it was very very clear that SOMETHING  was prodding him to keep listening. We made an appointment for later this week, and he said that he would like to hear more about what we talked about. This was a small Little thing with just a small appointment that might not even turn into anything. But it showed me how powerful the Spirit can be when simple truths are being stated. God wants everyone to hear his truth one way or another, it is just up to us to make sure that we are doing our part, opening our mouths, and speaking. I challenge all of you to find 1 person this week that you can pray for and then reach out to, just a Little bit, to try to help them find a truth. I know that something good will come from it. I love you and I miss you all - have a good week!

Love, Søster Ludlow

July 8, 2016

Hej fam and friends!

I don't have much time, so I'll keep it short! This weeks funny quotes:  "Is God your genie"?  We were talking to an Arabic guy on the street and he doesn't speak Danish or English very well, and he asked a question that sounded like 'Is God your genie?' Søster Naylor started responding to the question and he took her seriously for a while but then he started laughing hysterically

because that was NOT what he had asked. We still don't know what he said but it was really really funny.

We knocked doors for the first time yesterday! Of course, we got shut Down a few times, but then we knocked on a Syrian family's door. They invited us in and fed us and gave us pineapple soda, and because their Danish wasn't very good, their 7 year old daughter was translating for us. We had asked if they believed in Jesus Christ. The Little girl talked to her parents and her Little Brother and then says in Danish: "My dad believes in Jesus, my mom believes in Jesus, I like Jesus... But HE (pointing to the Little Brother) only believes in Spiderman" hahahaha.   I couldn't stop laughing for a very long time, and neither could the Family. Good times. We're going back tonight to talk to them, but I think things could go really well with them.

We got off on the wrong bus stop this week and got stranded in a  rainstorm waiting for a member to find us. That was SO FUN. I was wearing my rubber shoes, so whenever no one was watching, I would go jump in the puddles. I love the rain :) There was a HUGE thunderstorm last night. The lightning was so bright that I could still see it when my eyes were closed and our curtains were shut. It was incredible. It also makes for the best sunsets.

This week I spent a lot of time studying faith. As I read, I noticed a common theme among every single scripture that I read. They all said that miracles ONLY come when we have faith enough for the miracles. It is so important that we make sure that we are doing our part of the miracle. God has promised that if we show our faith in Him, that He will send miracles. I know that this is so true. The more that we show God that we trust him and that we believe in him, the better off we will be. He loves us and wants to give us everything, we just have to have faith enough to receive it. I love you all and I miss you! I hope that you all have an incredible week!

Love, Søster Ludlow

 

Our trio

 So we went out to eat and got more than we bargained for as far as portion size goes!

July 4, 2016

She's there!  She's there!  And she's so excited about it!  Here is her Denmark address for anyone who would love to write her!  SHE LOVES THOSE LETTERS!  So keep 'em coming!

Søster Sarah Ludlow
Den Danske Mission
Borups Allé  128  1.tv
DK-2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark

Hej from Danmark!

Wow, I don't even know where to begin! So much has happened! I guess I'll start by saying that the pigeons here are really fat. I watched one try to fly this morning and it barely made it over the hedge. It tried to land on the hedge, but it was too fat, so it sank. Hehe Americans might be 'fat', but Denmarks birds are HUGE!

I am so excited about my first area! I am serving in Slagelse (one of Conner's areas)! Everywhere we go, people keep saying 'huh, Ludlow, I know that name... how do I know that name?'. Ældste Dibble is my district leader, so I get to see him every week! Not hugging him was probably the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life... but having him here is just like a little bit of home! I have 2 companions, both of which have been in Denmark for 5 months. So far, I absolutely love them, and I'm Lucky to have them! Their names are Søster Naylor and Søster Haag. I've been using a bike left behind by a different sister, and its dark pink and a bit too big for me... but I've (almost) perfected the art of hoping on one foot and gracefully launching myself onto the seat. It Works fantastically, and its a nice bike, so I hope I can keep it!

The first investigator that I got to meet was a man from Ethiopia. He speaks a very rare language and so we had to communicate with him through 50% English, 20% Danish, and 30% Google translate. IT was his first lesson and it went surprisingly well, but the very beginning was my favorite part. the 3 of us walked in and sat on his couch and he went away into the kitchen. A couple minutes later, we hear something that sounds like ice Falling on the floor, and then we hear a sound like ice being cooked in a pan on the stove - a Little popping, sputtering noise. We were very confused as to what was going on, but then about 120 seconds later, in he comes with a GIANT plate of nothing but....... popcorn. Hahahaha he took the time to cut up some apples and bananas and then made us a huge plate of popcorn. we asked him if he likes popcorn, and he seemed shocked and said 'of course, every day'. I think that he might be my mom and Brother reincarnated as an ethiopian man. He really likes his popcorn, and I really like his popcorn, so we get along just fine!

The other day, we rode on our bikes over to a Little park to dedicate our area. We set a bunch of goals and then we found a quiet, secluded spot (the entire park was empty because it was pouring rain - WHICH I LOVED) and we each said a prayer out loud telling God what we were going to accomplish in this area and promising that we were going to give everything we had while we were there. It was a really cool experience for a couple reasons. First, because the second that I finished my prayer, I felt an immense excitement to just go and bike all over the city and find everyone who was outside and become their best friend. The other reason was because after we said our prayers, we starting singing 'Called to Serve'. During the song, I looked up and there was a man and his dog standing a Little ways off. When he heard us singing, he stopped and stood on the outskirts of the trees, just shuffling his feet and listening with his cute dog. Then, once we finished, he looked up and walked away like nothing had happened. I'm not sure why that was cool to me, it just felt like in that second, Heavenly Father was showing me the kind of influence that we can have on people's lives. We've been set apart to be different, and to bring the Spirit into people's lives like they've never felt before. There may be many people who have said no, and many more who will say no to what we have to say, but since that rainy morning 4 days ago, I have not seen a single person walk away from us without a Little bit more hope in their eyes and a more contemplative air. Being a missionary is so cool. I'm tired, but I've never been happier to be tired in my entire life. We can do so much good! All we have to do is open our mouths and God will fill them with what we need to say.

Well, that basically sums up my week! Thank you for your emails and letters! I love you all so much and I hope all is well. I love Denmark and I'm so excited to share even more experiences with you next week! Har det godt!

Søster Sarah Ludlow 

That's right, B is my district leader!!!! We were going to surprise him at district meeting on Thursday, but he literally called and texted us like 12 times trying to figure out who 'the new baby' was and so finally I just answered the phone and it took him forever to figure out who he was talking to, but once he realized that it was me, he just started screaming 'NOOO! NOOOOO WAAAAAAAY! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' And then when we saw each other the next day, it was so hard not to hug him. We both just stood there flapping our arms and yelling hahaha. He's actually coming today so that we can make pancakes for America.

Note from Crysi:  For those who don't know, "B" is our close family friend, Branden Dibble, son of our awesome friends, the Dibbles.  We have raised our families together so B and Sarah grew up together and were best of friends.  Brandon played piano at Conner's homecoming, accompanying all the Danes who sang, then was called to Denmark himself!    And now low and behold, they are together in the same district.  Poor President O'Bryant.....but it makes my heart smile to see them both so happy!

Their kindergarten picture together....hahaha.  Love these 2 kiddos!