week one in Denmark!

Hey Dad,

Where to Start, the last few days have been really crazy and way unbelievable in a lot of ways. So I will just begin where I left off, from when I saw you at the Airport.

So the flight to Paris was really good actually. I got a decent amount of sleep and I did okay. Its actually kind of funny but the flight attendants on the flight were LDS, and she just had a son return from a mission to Florida. So she took way good care of all of us missionaries on the flight. She was constantly asking if we wanted more drinks or more snacks, etc. It was way nice, I think the other people on the flight were feeling a little jealous... :) But the flight was good, I didn't miss any good movies anyways so that wasn't even a temptation on the flight. I don't even remember what the movies were but they looked really stupid. They did Show Harry Potter but I already saw that, so it was OK. Anyways Flight was good, DAD I did drink a lot of water thanks to the flight attendant. I got some sleep and even had my own row. Actually the plane was basically empty, so we had a lot of room. The flight attendant said that was really rare, so I got very lucky.

Finally I arrived in Paris! Its not all its cracked up to be. The airport is at the edge of Paris, so I saw this little black pointy thing, not even worth mentioning from the airplane. But Hey at least I can say I have seen the Eiffel Tower. Right? So got off the plane and wow was that airport confusing! It was by far the strangest most bizarre airport I have ever seen. I got off the plane and went to customs. Whats weird is Customs was outside the airport... and they didn't even look at my passport. They just stamped it and let me through, no big deal. My whole district made it through with no problems. We got through and headed to our Terminal which was like 3 miles away. We walked and walked and walked. Got to Security and they searched our bags. Got through that and finally made it to our Gate. I was literally terrified of this airport. The people all looked grumpy and mean and I was starred at a lot. It was hot, smoggy and crowded. The airport felt really dirty and it was really busy and not fun at all. I got really scared. I was worried, I don't think I can do this, Europeans are weird, they scare me, etc. But good news is I had only 30 minutes to spare until they started to board the plane. oh kind of funny, We (my district) went to use the restrooms and all I am going to say about that was, the bathrooms in Paris were weird, really weird. Use your imagination...

Made it finally on the plane on an, Air France Airplane. Once again all of us had our own row and were able to stretch out and relax. Whats funny was it was only our rows that were empty. The flight attendant offered others to move but nobody did. The flight attendant thought it was really weird. She asked about us being missionaries and we told her. She was way impressed we would do something like that. She took a pass a long card, kind of cool. Then they fed us on this flight to Copenhagen some weird French food, I'm assuming. It was some weird soupy, pasta stuff. In short it was not very good. However it did take away the hunger. Unfortunately it was very cloudy and I didn't see much of Denmark from the air. I saw the ocean and the airport, that's about it.

But I finally made it to Copenhagen. Got off the plane and it was a whole different experience than they what I experienced in Paris. This airport I really felt at home. I got off the plane and was in a really nice airport. It felt really clean and In generally I felt very comfortable, unlike the Paris airport. As we left the terminal and headed to the heart of the airport, I was even more impressed. They already had it decorated for Christmas! As you know that's my favorite holiday, so what better way to welcome me to Denmark then having the place all decorated! Right? We walked through and everything was just really new and clean and well organized. Basically the heart of the airport was shops. Its all TAX free in the airport, so there were a ton of people shopping and the stores were way big and nice. Kenzie: Lots of clothes shops, and it was all your style! You would have loved it! But we finally made it to baggage claim. All the signs were in Danish and English so it was really easy to get around. Got my luggage and left security to find Ældste Stacy and Mission President all there to greet me and my district! They were taking pictures and laughing and yelling, "WELCOME TO DENMARK!" We got lots of strange looks but it was just to exciting to care. Then they led us to the Car and we loaded our luggage and we took the train to Downtown Copenhagen. Now the trains were are way nice. They are way clean and way new. One of the other APS said that they the Danes take great pride in their transportation system. So in general they will always be in pretty good shape!

We finally made it to Downtown Copenhagen and started walking around. They decided to take us to the original Kiristus statue. It was amazing, however I left my camera in the Car so I didn't get any pictures. But I have 2 years here, There will be time. But it was really incredible. The church it was in was really pretty. Definitely worth seeing when you come. But then they just took us around Downtown Copenhagen. Makenzie once again you would die. They had a million clothes shops, and all of them seemed like clothes you would wear! So make sure you save your money cause you may be doing some shopping! :) They had every store you could imagine. They were all very nice stores and all of them were full with people buying stuff. They had a few electronic stores, Those caught my eye. But from the looks of the stuff inside, Best Buy is still better. The electronic Stores here are really small. One thing about Denmark is Customer Service does not exist. So the employees do not like helping you. In general though the Danes don't like to be helped. Ive learned that Danes like doing things themselves, in fact they take pride in being able to do things they can do. For example they don't have garable disposals in there sinks here, at all! My companions said that the members said that they don't have them because why have a machine do something, We (a Dane) can do just as good ourselves. They also DO NOT bag your groceries for you. I learned that yesterday as I was buying groceries. It shocked me... I had to bag my own stuff. They also charge you like 20 Kronos per bag. Luckily my companion had some I could use. Its 5 Kronos per 1 Dollar. So I spend 250.00 Kronos yesterday on Groceries which was like 50.00 Dollars. Everything seems really expensive and it is! Like when you go to a movie store and you see a movie that's 20.99, here they have prices like 159.99 on the movies! Its like Crazy!

Anyways, I am definitely not in Utah anymore! lol! One thing I will say Is I feel really, really safe here. Its weird, but I am not scared at all. In New York I was a little nervous but here, so far, things have been really good. I have felt safe.

After the airport, and downtown Copenhagen we contacted! It was actually not that bad, and we only did it for 15 minute's. They people are really nice in general. They are never rude, they just say no thanks and keep walking, and In Denmark that's not rude at all. So it wasn't too bad, however all the people I contacted spoke English and were really nice to me. Surprising...

Then we went to the presidents house and had interview and a traditional Danish Dinner. I wish I could remember the names of the stuff, I ate, but It was really good. If I remember i will write you back. Then we slept at the Presidents house. We woke up, they fed us and we went to the church to be assigned new companions and be shipped off! My new companion is Elder Robinson. He is from England. He has been here for about 1 year a few months. Hes really cool. I think we will get along just fine. He likes things clean, so that right there makes me happy. After we were assigned companions we headed off and had some pizza at the mission Office! Then the AP"s drove us to the train station and off we went to places all over Denmark! My area is actually a 3 hour train ride from Copenhagen. Not only that But its a Bike riding mission and its the only place in Denmark that has hills. They are actually pretty steep, I was kind of shocked. The town I am in is called Randers. you should be able to find it on a map, let me know if you cant.

The train ride was really cool. The trains once again are really nice and the seats were really comfortable. After the train ride we arrived to the apartment. Its OK.. Its old, Everything in Denmark is old. Something I will have to get used to. We had permission to go to bed early, and I did! I have Jet lag really bad. I am usually up at 3AM starring at the ceiling. Its getting betters its just going to take some time! lol! Then the next day so Thursday, we had a normal missionary day. We woke up had our companion and personal study. We had language study as normal missionaries would. Then we put on our jackets and went out contacting. It actually is not as bad as I thought it would be! really! I think all those years being at Best Buy and contacting people helped break me of that nervous feeling. I just had this desire to greet people. Obviously I really couldn't as I don't speak the language, and what I could say they couldn't understand, lol! I got lots of weird looks, but I just smiled and they couldn't help but smile back, lol! My companion would speak to them and I just smiled and nodded with him. It was a good day. I rode a bike a lot! And In truth I struggled! I mean I haven't rode a bike in like 8 years! lol! So but Learned quickly. Lots of hills and lots of cars, but I we went slow and I followed my companion. Then later that night we had an appointment with an Investigator. I think her names was Rhonda.... Not sure actually... My brains kind of still scrambled as Its a lot to take in the last few days. Shes a black girl from Congo. She immigrated to Denmark with her bothers and sisters. Shes way religious but feels that by investigating another church shes is betraying God. Anyways but shes way nice and open to our message. Shes was feeling kind of sick so we shared a short message with her and told her to continue reading the Book of Mormon. Then we left. We are meeting with her again Next week.

Then at 7 the night we had a dinner appointment with a member. One thing that's different about this mission with members is when a member invites you to their home, you don't miss that appointment. The Danish feel it very rude to cancel on them.So Mission President said that we attend those appointments whether they have a referral or not. So we did. Shes this really old lady and shes way nice! She loves feeding the missionaries. she doesn't just make dinner, she makes a feast! She made us enough food to last the rest of the week! It was all way good, and it was by far the best meal I have had in months! lol! She loved trying her American enlglsih on me, and surprisingly she was pretty good. She got a lot of words wrong, but Im 100% positive I was doing the very same in Danish! Shes was way nice and way loving and just a fantastic person. Her name is Eva. Anyways, I had a great meal.

Every things going well family. Things are a little crazy and I am a little overwhelmed but things should start to get normal soon. I have taken a lot of pictures so I should be able to send them home soon. But know I am safe and doing OK. The members here really look out for the missionaries, so don't worry I always have people in the ward helping me out. The ward in Randers is actually not even a word. Its a Branch. There are 50 members. So really small! lol! Way small! So Sunday will be a whole another experience, lol!

Mom: Some ideas that you asked for stuff to send, up Buttered Popcorn! They DO NOT have it here! lol! They have popcorn but its not buttered at all. check mix would also be good. Anything with Peanut butter as there is none here. Even cereal would be good. Seriously the Cereal here is like bird food. its way weird. I'm not impressed. I am pretty sure I have seen birds and horses eat the cereal, Ive been eating, lol! So yea, Cereal is always good. That's all I can think of for now, If I think of anymore I will let you know.

Anyways, I think I addressed Everything. Let me know if you want to know anything more! I love you all and am doing great!

Love,

Ældste Hardy