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!