Den Danske Mission

One Year

2012-01-30T10:24:00.055-07:00

Well, this week was even better. We are #1 in the mission as far as working goes. We talked to 760 people, 50 lessons, 10 other lessons with a member present, and gave out 32 Book of Mormons, and had the highest working hours in the mission.

Here in Roskilde, we get treated so bad every single day. We get yelled at and people try to get us out of the areas. We just stand up for ourselves. There has not been one day yet where we have had less than 6 or 7 people saying or try to do something bad to us. Last month, we were at a meeting with other missionaries and when it finish we saw that someone had walked up to one of our cars and shattered the window. Glass was all over in the car. With the good comes the bad to make good. We are totally booked up with eating appointments for the whole month of februar. Only five days out of the month we get to make our own dinner. So that's way, way, way good!

This Thursday is 1YEAR! IT'S THE FINAL COUNT DOWN! and a lot more work to do.

Not much to write, but everything is going great. Here is a picture of a cat that came in through our window. We decided to feed it, give it milk, and play with it.

Transferred to Roskilde

2012-01-23T20:24:00.013-07:00

I'm now in Roskilde after being six months in Horsens. My companion, Elder Willden, and I totally busted our bums this week. We are working way hard and this week wasn't even a full week for us. We were on top of everything and were the highest in the mission on everything. The new area is way cool and fun. My companion and I white washed this place. We have a car in this area. We don't know our way at all, so we just drive all over and waste gas it seems. Elder Willden kinda of stinks at driving, so it's pretty fun:) sharp turns, slamming on the brakes, going over curbs, going fast, and dodging other cars on the road-nearly dying everyday, but still having fun. So he's practicing haha. On our first day in the area, a guy started yelling at us, banging on the car, swearing at us, and spitting on the window. We were getting pretty upset, but for the most part we held our cool. This week was probably one of the most productive and one of the most hardest working weeks on my mission. I am stoked to see what we can do this week! The mission leader and much of the ward complemented us on how the first week in church we split off and went around in church and said hi to everyone and introduced ourselves. They know we were here to work and get things done! I have to give a talk this Sunday in church. We are working with a kid. He said he would like to get baptized. The other missionaries have passed over him, but we're going to work with him and get him baptized. We also will try to get his uncle, who is a member, to baptize him. The hard part is the kid is under 18. He is 17 so, we need his mom's approval. She is not to fond of the idea, so we're going to try talking to his mom and address her concerns. We have a baptism date on the 11th of February for another investigator, but we're not sure if he'll be ready or not. We'll have to see. Seriously, we are working HARD! and SMART! and with the SPIRIT and giving it our all. It was crazy out of the blue that I left Horsens, but it was good. This week was crazy and we were working like crazy. We are going to Kobenhavn today, so it's just like good ol' times before when serving in Ballerup area.

The snow that Trevor was hoping would never come.

2012-01-16T12:17:00.028-07:00

In Mark's weekly email to Trevor he had to write about the passing of our family member Stan Harding. This has been a fear of Trevor's being on his mission and losing family members. Trevor gave examples of some of his memories growing up around Stan and then stated He has diffidently given me unforgettable memories. The loss is hard, but it's wonderful that we have the belief of knowing after death we keep progressing and able to one day greet and hold the ones we love in our arms again.

The mission home puts out a monthly Det Danske Banner that the missionaries and parents get. It has a message from President Andersen, up coming missionary events with things they need to do, birthdays, and exiting missionaries. There is also a section called "Miracle stories from missionaries" that I think comes from the missionaries weekly contact to the mission home. Trevor had one posted as seen below.

Well, last week I told you we had a miracle story. What happened was, we had an investigator named XXXX that me and Æ. Camp tried to get a hold of. He hasn´t met with missionaries for 6 months and he never answered all the times we tried to call. We went to his house and found out he doesn´t live there anymore, so Æ. Sandstrom and I tried to call him every time we went through the area book. Now the same thing happened with Æ. Earl and me. We were calling and calling, and so we decided to give him one more try. We thought, if he doesn’t answer we´ll leave a message again and then we’ll drop him because now it’s been 8½ or 9½ months since missionaries have met with him. He has never returned one phone call, so if he didn´t answer after we left a message, we would drop him. The next day, we were out contacting and we stopped a man and started chatting it up with him. He said he has met with the missionaries before and they still call him. In fact, they had just called and left him a message yesterday. I asked him what his name was and he said XXXX. So low and behold there is XXXX! He said he would like it if we would come again and talk to him! Gotta love the crazy little miracles!!!

Elder Peterson

Trevor is being transferred tomorrow to Roskilde. This is located near København and kind of close to Ballerup one of his past areas. He has been to Roskilde a few times for splits, meetings, and baptisms. His new companion will be Elder Wilden. Trevor has been in Horsens for six months. He stated it didn't feel like he was leaving. On Sunday, he got up and gave his good-bye testimony and it still didn't feel like he was leaving. Maybe this is why missionaries say they will alway have a love for the people in the areas they served. Trevor too is starting to leave a part of his heart with the people of Danmark.

Lisabeth, a dear lady who took a liking to Trevor says good-bye to him at the train station.

Happy Birthday

2012-01-07T09:55:00.001-07:00

3 years old

21 years old

Jule In Danmark

2011-12-25T09:40:00.394-07:00

danske:

Ældste Peterson tilbragte julen (december 24) på menighedens biskop hjem med sin familie. Disse billeder viser Trevor dans og sang omkring juletræet i Danmark tradition. Trevor udtalte,

at han havde en vidunderlig tid.

English:

Elder Peterson spent Christmas Day (December 24) at the ward Bishop's home with his family. These pictures show Trevor dancing and singing around the Christmas tree in the Denmark tradition. Trevor stated he had a wonderful time.

Our Sunday Christmas was filled with traditional morning rolls and opening up presents with the boys, with a huge anticipation of Trevor's call home. The ring came and everyone knew who it was, our missing gift. Trevor called from a member's home where he'll spend the day. This family traveled to the United States this past summer and came into the Bear Lake valley during their travels. We talked with Trevor while his companion was using the computer to skype with family. Trevor was not sure if he wanted to skype or not this Christmas. When his companion was done, Trevor said he would skype with us for a few minutes. We were dressed and close to heading to church when the skype came on (no church for the Peterson's). The phone call was wonderful, but skype was amazing. I can only relate the filling to a mother holding a new born baby in her arms. Watching their movements with such intense, a calming feeling, and the purest peace. When I saw Trevor, those same feeling came to me. To watch him smile, laugh, and making the simplest movements that brought back quick flashes of memories. It was amazing to look at my first born after a year with such intense. A priceless moment to add to those heartfelt keepsakes--amazing.

Mark and the twins talking with Trevor

Skype 9:20am - Danmark 6:20pm

Trevor taking a picture of us.

Back row Mark and Trent.
Front row Zac, me and Trevin.

Zac is Trevor's brother from another mother. They were in the hospital together as new borns and friends since elementary school. Zac's family lives up the road. He is home on leave from the Army after his last tour of duty in Afghanistan. To see Trevor and Zac interact with each other was a delight. They have the kind of friendship that is very rare. They are serving their own individual missions right now, but plan on being roommates again as they start the next step in their lives. Zac left for the Army a few months before Trevor left on his mission and will return home five months after Trevor returns home.

It was so cute to hear both the boys say, "Hey, buddy!" in unison. Trevin stated, "He's there." The boys know where Trevor is, we talk about his emails, show them pictures, but seeing Trevor move and talk made it reality for them. They both asked if he was eating and doing good. As Trevor was talking, Trent asked me "Why do they keep Trevor in a closet." I told him it was just a room where the computer was. Trevin was more worried about "them people" taking care of Trevor. Trevor stated that the people treat him very well, but there are others who he's had to walk away from. Kind of hard when this happens while traveling on a train. Christmas was nice, but missed home. One thing to learn about lighted candles on Christmas trees in Danmark-Don't stand to close. The bishop's wife caught her shirt on fire. Trevor has enjoyed being with all his five companions to date. They have gotten along really well which he is grateful for. His time has passed quickly and soon to hit his one year mark in February. He thought he would be home next January, due to his VISA ending on the 23rd of that month. Mark asked Trevor if he dreams in Danish? Trevor stated his first few companions would find him in the middle of the night talking Danish in his sleep. It was fun to discuss small details with him and can't wait for the next call on Mother's Day.

Trevor wanted us to thank family and friends for the cards, letters, and gifts that have been shipped to him.

Christmas love and wishes
packed in a box.

Glade Feriedage (Happy Holidays)

2011-12-05T15:52:00.167-07:00

Julenisse (Christmas elves)

Christmas in Denmark is supposed to be when a mischievous elf called Nisse can have his fun. He is said to live in the lofts of old farmhouses and enjoys playing jokes. He wears gray woolen clothes, a red bonnet, red stockings and white clogs. Families leave him a bowl of rice pudding or porridge on Christmas Eve to keep his jokes within limits. Usually though he is kind and helpful helping out on the farms and being especially good to the children.

This week went fast, but not to successful due to no one wanting to talk during the month of December for some crazy reason. Tirsdag -tracted and the rest of the works. Onsdag- we went to Vejle to go interview a lady for baptism in another persons area. This made us have to cancel our appointments because the zone leader told us to come at the last second. We had to catch a train and get over there. It was a little frustrating that they didn't even check to see if we were available to come. They made the appointment and didn't want to make another appointment right then. Torsdag- tracted, knocking on doors, and calling people forever with no luck. Fredag- had an appointment that cancelled on us and so we went out finding and then we had a Christmas church activity. Lordag-we didn't have fodbol cause it rained tonz. We went to lunch with Nicklas cause it was his birthday. Then we continued with stop by's and a visit with M. and she fed us. She makes so good food! Sondag-went to church and after had our weekly planning. That night we went to family G and ate. They also invited M. That night we went to L. and I gave her a gift from me and the one from you. I told her she couldn't open them until Christmas. She was way way way happy. It was the first time it snowed. The kind that when it lands on your jacket or the ground, it just turns into water. There is still none, so that's good. Over all the week stunk for success, but we pressed forward. I keep forgetting to tell you that we are going over to the family that went to Bear Lake for Christmas. That should be good and all! Christmas Eve we are going to a families house too. In Denmark, they celebrate Christmas on the 24th (like open gifts and all) and chill on the 25th. They also dance around the tree like weirdo's and make fools of themselves. It is funny.

Christmas wreath with family picture and Reese Cups sent with his Christmas package.

Vi kan ikke vente med at få vores jule telefonopkald.

(We can't wait to get our Christmas phone call.)

Juletræ

(Christmas Tree)

Information off the net on Danmark's Christmas traditions

In Denmark, "Jul" (Christmas) celebrations begin with Advent. In each Sunday in Advent, each one of the four candles are lit on the Advent wreath (crown), that is traditionally made out of spruce branches. On each Sunday in Advent, guests are invited to join in the lighting of the candles. They serve small cakes of different styles. Danish families set up Christmas trees in their homes prior to the Christmas Eve events. December 23 is called "Lille Juleaften" (Little Christmas Eve) a time for get togethers. Adults serve cups of hot glögg (hot wine or cider boiled with raisins, nuts and spices) while children munch on on a holiday doughnut called “æbleskiver” served with icing, jam, or syrup and also served is “risengrod” a boiled rice with milk and cinnamon. The gifts are often exchanged on this day. Christmas is celebration is on December 24 as family and friend come together and party and finally light the Christmas tree "Juletrea". Christmas Eve's dinner traditionally includes roast pork, roast duck or roast goose with potatoes, red cabbage and gravy. Dessert is usually rice pudding served with a cherry sauce called "mandelgaven". Traditionally, an almond is hidden inside the dessert which one has to find to recieve a small gift. The family members gather around the Christmas tree to sing and dance hand in hand around the tree. The gifts are opened one at a time in order to give everyone the pleasure of watching. Christmas Day, December 25, is a rather quiet time and is usually a day to be spent with family eating cold meats and fish, vegetables, and deserts.

Thanksgiving In Danmark

2011-11-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

This week went flying for sure i´ve already been with my new comp 1 week. Wow, time is flying!

Tirsdag- Went to some appointments. We went over to a guy named A. He is 35 year old Danish man. He's pretty cool. We went to a less-active named T and chatted it up with him. Did other visiting stuff and that night we had an appointment with the Bishop. We ate at his house and had a good time.

Onsdag- We went to Århus and celebrated THANKSGIVING and President Andrersen let us have a turkey-bowl, so that was fun playing American football. We had a Thanksgiving dinner and a talent show, but I was not in it (cause I have no talent lol). Everyone made pies, so we ate all kinds of them. It was really good! It over all was a good thanksgiving. It was so nice cause everything was American from the turkey down to the salads. It was so so so so good, and I was so so so so stuffed! I was a happy camper!

Torsdag- went back to Århus and had a zone conference. That was pretty good to and had a good dag.

Fredag- Went and did some service for one of our investigators named K. P. We took all her stuff out of a storage apartment, so she could go through it. That was good, and she fed us. We also taught her a lesson. We went to M´s so I could finish building her a dresser.

Lørdag- Went and played fodbol in the morning and worked all dag until we had a Melchizedek priesthood dinner. That was way fun and tonz of laughs.

Søndag- After church, had appointments, and went home to do our weekly planning. At 19:00 we had a Christmas concert. There were tonz of people and it was by far a success. Everything went well.
Yep, that's my week. It went by way fast, and we had a good time! Just to say, I AM MISSING THOSE SNOWMOBILES RIGHT NOW and MY BOYZ! Tell everyone hi for me. 1year yesterday, we were sealed. Thats awesome! LOVE YA ALL TONZ!

Pictures to Trevor of us getting the Christmas tree.

2011-11-22T11:04:00.004-07:00

Email short due to appointments. He answered a couple of questions we had, quick overview of getting a new companion, and picture downloads of the Horsens area.

Trevor stated a few months ago that his luggage wheels were falling apart. They go over the cobble stone and with the toll of traveling distances requires new ones. He looked into it and will cost 650Kr for new ones. That is around 117 dollars each. Guess what Santa is giving him? I will be mailing off a Christmas box in a few days. I'm trying to arrange things around the ten day travel time and getting it to him just in case he transfers on the 14th of December.

Trevor said by luck he got to ride the train over to Copenhagen for a mini transfer of companions. This gave him the opportunity to say good-bye to several missionaries he has served with. Elder Sandstrom will leave to a new area and Elder Earl will be with Trevor. Elder Earl has been out preaching in Denmark four months. Trevor says he's a cool kid and will get busy working with the investigators and inactive members. Trevor stated he is finally starting to get a few investigators coming to church.

There currently is no snow, but he's sure its not far off. He hopes it holds off longer due to not being excited about doing missionary work in the freezing cold wind and snow. Several sites on the internet described Denmark as particularly cold due to the wind gust that change direction quickly off the surrounding seas and altering the temperature within seconds. A ward member took Trevor to get a raincoat a few months ago, as the country went into the months of September-November rainfall season. Trevor bought a winter coat a few weeks ago. He's gearing up for February, as the coldest month with temperatures 0 degrees and colder with wind chills. Snow fall is rare to mild. Because of Denmark's northern location in Europe, the winter days are short with sunrise at 8:00am and sunset at 3:00pm. I'm sending him Vitamin D to help with the winter gloom that the shorter days can cause.

Elder Sandstrom in Horsens

Cobblestone walkways

Taking Elder Sandstrom to Copenhagen for transfer

On the train (tog)

Missionaries heading home after serving 18-24 months

Missionary hug good-bye to Elder Shreeve

Trevor & Elder Earl (New companion)

Trevor's Always in Our Thoughts

2011-11-15T11:17:00.003-07:00

Monday night, I found Trevin asleep hugging his picture Trevor gave him. Trevor is far away, but not from our thoughts.

2011-11-14T07:03:00.219-07:00

Hello :)

Hey guys everything is going good! That is way crazy about the missionaries in Texas. Were they in John Reese's mission? Did he know them? That's crazy that Mom and Grandma did a couple of 360's in Logan Canyon when going to the temple. I bet Mom didn't like that one bit cause she always scarred about that stuff. Did they go into the river (no)? I about got hit by a car while I was on my bide. It was pitch black and they must not seen my light on the bike. She slammed on the brake and was about seriously 2 1/2 inches from hitting me.

Pa Tirsdag- Went and did lots of contacting and some stop by's. That night went over to the H (old and awesome people). They seem like they could be from Bear Lake and ate with them. They had a member, M, there. M brought a friend (21 and hot) and she likes us. That was the second time we met with M, cause see wanted us to tell a little about what we believe in. That way the 21 year old could feel comfortable enough to come to an eating appointment with M and us. The funny things is we were at the dinner table, talking about what we did for the day and the 21 year old said she went and got a tattoo and showed us. Makes me want one, lol! Then we went home and planned.

Pa Onsdag -We went out and did stop by's and knocking. We went over to a less active (T). and talked to him about getting back involved with the church. We had a member with us and she was pretty blunt with him. She pretty much told him he was being careless and kinda lazy, but it went good. We went right over to N. right after T.'s and talked to him about "The Plan of Salvation", which went good. He really liked it! N. was really interested in it and wants to come to church with us. He wants us to keep coming and seeing him. After N. we went to the church and Elder Sandstorm had Kor. I don't know how to spell it in Engalsk. I'll try-qwire. Like tabernacle qwire, you know like a church qwire where they sing in a group. I don't know. He had to practice for the Christmas concert at the end of the month. I played with a little kid and his Lego's cause singing back in Ballerup qwire was good enough for me.

Pa Torsdag - Went and visited a less active A. and talked to her about her baptism and what it meant to her. That went pretty good. After that we went and did some good ol contacting for a while. We had an eating appointment at 17:30 with a really cool family. She is a single mother that has a daughter who is 15 and a set of twin boys who are 13. She works hard to keep the money coming. The boys come and play fodbol with us on Lordag. The family is very active. The father died and so now they are by themselves. Wow the kids are really good kids and talented. She is raising them well. After our eating appointment, we went to our place and finally got to visit with the people living under us. They are way cool, fed us food, and 90% that is as far as it will go. Went out to check on a lady in the ward.

Pa Fredag - Had our weekly planning and then two of our appointments burned us. That sucked! We couldn't meet up with them, so we just went out and worked it up.

Pa Lordag - Went and played fodbol in the morning. Our two appointments that got canceled, one moved to just the next day and the other to next week. We had an appointment at 16:30, but when we got there, no one was there. We got burned on that too, but it was all good because we still had one more appointment planned. It was with N. to show him where the church was, but he forgot we were coming over and wasn't there. I was pretty mad cause we were burned all day.

Pa Sondag - Went to church and N. wasn't there. When I called to remind him that there was church, he was in the shower. He thought he knew where the church was. Then after church we went over to Family B. They are less active and like 60 something. They are way cool, but the reason they canceled on us the day before was because he got his forearm on his right arm tattooed. It is dedicated to Danmark and the resistance when Danmark and Germany were in war with each over. His grandfather was part of it. I could be about 90%, i'm getting one (Trevor has alway wanted a tattoo like his grandfather McGhee and Uncle Mac). We went over to a kid named M. and taught him for the first time and it went well. Went to a less active member's home. He was pretty cool and seems to like me. He's been a member for twenty years, but more inactive then active. I convinced him that before I leave he has to come to church at least once. That will be the first time in years and years and years. Went to E's that and ate Oreo's and drank a Coke. It's mandatory because she knows we like it and she loves it.

I hope you all are doing well and I hope you all know I love you tonz. I think I was meant to come on a mission as the main purpose of getting our family sealed together in the temple. I remember always growing up asking, "When are we going to go to the temple." Mom would say, "One day in the future." Well, I think I had something about it and me going on a mission did it! Now on the 27th of this month will be one year we have been sealed. Holy Smokes it's gone by fast! Nine months have gone and I get to call next month. I don't know until a week before, 14th of December, if I am transferring or not, but as far as this up coming mini transfer I'll know like two days before.

2011-11-07T08:00:00.001-07:00

This week, we went and met up with M and she had her son's girlfriend there with her. We taught the girlfriend and then later taught a guy K. He has two sisters who are very active in the ward, but he hasn't talked to them or anyone else in his family in years. He drinks a lot, but we're going to be trying to get him and one of his sisters to meet up. He's down to do it, so we're going to meet up with him a couple more times before we let him come over to his sister's house and eat with us. The thing is his sister hates when he drinks a beer in front of her. He says he likes having a beer with his dinner. He understood when I explained that it's her house so it's her rules and he needs to respect them. If she was ever to go over to his house, she has to respect his rules.

We left Horsens and went to a little suburb and taught a lady's son and did some contacting there. That night we went and ate at a members house, Henderiksen Family. The Hendriksen's went to the states two months ago. That night they asked me where I was from and I told them Bear Lake, Idaho. All three sets of eyes went went big. They were like, "We were just there. We went to Paris and got a tour of the tabernacle."

I went to church and it was good. We had an investigator that said she was going to come to church. Since she'd been in Danmark, she hasn't been able to go. We waited for her until church started, but she didn't show up. I got up and gave my testimony. After church, we went and met up with a kid named K and taught him and others like a funny guy A. We went to E's house, like every Sondag. She gave us pizza, so we all had pizza and chatted with her. She told me I'm her favorite missionary, cause I always want to see her, willing to talk to her, and bring her cake, cupcakes, or candy. I LOVE THAT LADY!

2011-11-01T12:04:00.148-06:00

I got the videos. That's awesome and I like them :) It was good to hear your voices again. Keep sending them. I had a good week.

Pa Tirsdag, went contacting and got our fireside prepared for the night.

Pa Onsdag, we met up with a kid in the library named H. He wanted to meet up with us cause, he said his faith is being lost and wants to get it back. Then we went out knocking and phone calls. That night we went and ate at the Holbeck's house and one of the members, Nicklas, was invited and came with us. Good food!

Pa Torsdag, we went with a member, M, who is really close to one of our investigators. We went over to the investigators place, but she said she was way to tired to meet with us. After that we went out and contacted. That night we met back up with M again and she took us to this dinner thing. We went and ate with them and talked to a few people about the church. Then we went to E's to talk with her.

Pa Fredag, we went out and contacted. We went to a guy named L and watched the movie "The Christ." We got like one minute into the video, and he paused it. He was like "I want my wife and kids to see this too." He went and got his whole family, and we all watched together. It went really well!

Pa Lordag, we had splits for the day. We went and played Fodbol in the morning. It was way fun! We went to Jensen's Bofhus with Nicklas to eat for a little while. After, we went contacting with the other group of Elders. Elder Sorgnsen (just got to Danmark) came with me. He followed me around, and it was really cool. I remember how I was like him, always had to ask at the beginning "What did he/she say?" It was way cool translating for him and being able to see how much I've improved. This guy was across the street named P. I yelled out his name and waved. He came over and said he has a drinking problem. I asked him, "P do you want to stop? I'll help you." He started crying really hard and came forward toward me. He gave me a huge hug and wouldn't let go. It was way cool to feel what was going on. P said he knows I am Jesus's messenger, and it felt good to hear that. I've seen him four or five times before and every time he shakes my hand, starts crying, and won't let go. We had another appointment that night with a girl in the ward. Her boyfriend wanted us to start teaching him.

Pa Sondag, was just another good Sondag. Over all, it was a good week and Yesterday, Mandag we went around shopping with Nicklas and bowling with the Family Home Evening group.

He has it all; the form, the technique, and the look of a pro with determination

Nicklas and companion Elder Sandstrom

2011-11-01T12:02:00.001-06:00

Trevor Are You There

2011-10-24T08:40:00.114-06:00

"Trevor are you there?" This is what I typed back after looking at the time he sent his weekly email. It was a wonderful feeling to have him reply back, "I'm here mom." Small simple words that meant so much. We only typed back and forth a few times, and I called Mark at the store who joined in. I didn't need more time, just knowing that he was there is all I needed. It reminds me of our communication with the Lord. Keeping in constant communication so that when we are faced with struggling times and ask him "Are you there?" We know without a doubt, he's there to listen and assist us.
Trevor liked the short clipped video of the boys in swimming class. Everything is going good. He attended a special training that is held every two months with the missionaries. He stated it was good to learn more about strategies toward missionary work. They put in a lot of hours of tracking and gave a blessing to a member. He thought it was cool, his second one since he has been in the field. This coming week he is over a fireside that is on, Our Purpose Here.

Cooking Skills Improving

2011-10-17T08:39:00.000-06:00

Trevor's letter was very brief, as ours to him, just busy making contacts. He had a week with his new companion, Elder Sandstorm, and getting him situated back into Horsens after being transferred out earlier in the year. They taught a guy named T from Bhutan. He wrote that this weeks knocking efforts paid off with lots of lessons being given. Trevor is enjoying his free time playing soccer and I guess baking, by the looks of that wedding style cake. Could being a chef be his career in the future?

2011-10-17T07:39:00.002-06:00

Made Senior Companion

2011-10-10T10:54:00.128-06:00

At the trains station dropping off Elder Camp

This week went fast and good. To answer your question Fodbol is soccer, but over here they don't say soccer. It's pronounced as fool-ball.

Tirsdag had to go to the library, did some stop by's and some good o'l knocking, again. That night went to a guy M. from the United States and married a Danish woman. They had us over for dinner. It was good. We had duck, some really good kind of rice, good gravy, Coka-Cola, and big o'l baked potatoes like the kind we have at home. They were not the small ones everyone here have, nice ones. After that we had some cookies and tea (herbal of course for us). He is like a Bear Laker in a way and it made me feel like I was in Bear Lake for a while. He lived on the out skirts of Horsen and there was fields and fields with homes a little spread out. He is way cool.

Onsdag went to a guy's home who burned us and said to come back to see him on Thursday, so that kinda stunk. We did some knocking and stop bys and then that night we are over at H.. They made us Flaeskesteg (flesk-a-stie) which is pig meat off the thigh on the leg with the skin left on to cook. You eat the meat with the skin and the little bit of the fat that is under the skin, is good.

Torsdag we went and got Elder Camp a hair cut and the girls looked beatutiful! WOW, we loved it. We went to a guy named A. and taught him and he said we can come back in two weeks. He is leaving the next week. We ended the day finding.

Fredag went back to P. house and he was drunk and being stupid. His dogs suck and I just wanted to kick them right in their jaws. We were like, no way we can teach him, so we left and said we will be back sometime in the next week. We headed to M's, the lady who peaks three languages at once (Spanish, English, Danish). She made us some food while we talked to her. She's a member and very active-way cool. She made us mexican food, which she always makes the best. We did weekly planning and Camp packed his bags up.

Lordag we played Fodbol and it was way fun and we had a great time. We tried to visit a lady named L, we had an appointment, but she wan't there. We went back to M's home to help her son C, interview us for a school project. We had an appointment with a lady named G. which went well. She is scarred to pray, but everyone works in a different way and takes time. After that we went and did a little bit of shopping for Camp to take home to the States. We later ate and went out and knocked and stop by's.

Sondag went to church and ate a little snack and went to work. We ate Lazona at the R. and it was good. We had Youth fast and testimony meeting that night. We went and sat there. At 20:00 (12:00 in the afternoon your time) we went to E. It is the funnest appointment ever, as always each Sunday. Just know that every time when your in church and the clock says 12:00, I'm with E. She's the best.

Well, I'm staying in Horsen and my new companion is Elder Sandstorm. He is coming back to Horsens. He's a cool kid. We have chatted it up many times before now. I am Senior now, so I got some responsibilities now. I just dropped Elder Camp off at the train station. He will go to Copenhagen for the day, eat his last meal with the President, and in the morning fly to the United States. Elder Klc just got off the train to fill in until Elder Sandstorm can travel back to Horsens.

I don't know if I ever told you, you probably already know, but Greenland is now open for missionaries, President Andersen just sent the first two missionaries ever over there two weeks ago. It is a married couple Elder and Sister Jensen from Alpine, Utah. That's way cool right! I hop you all have a great week and I love you tonz LOVE YOU

Elder Camp, E., and Trevor

A sweet lady Trevor has become friends with since arriving in Horsen, asked to go to the train station and say good bye too.

2011-10-03T18:33:00.015-06:00

"The Almighty has his own purposes."

Abraham Lincoln

Well, I would say I had a really good week, everything went well!

Pa Tirdag (Tuesday) was interview's with President Andersen and I passed!!! LOL. It was good and I went out and bought some new shoes. They are European style shoes, so I bought them for when I get a real suit, not American style were it just drowns you and my paints don't fit. I am a 32 waist and my paints are 34, if not a little bigger.

Pa Onsdag (Wednesday) we visited a guy called A, some stop by's, phone calls, and other jazz like that stuff.

Pa Torsdag (Thursday) knocked on doors and went to visit a lady called N and other stop by's. We had an eating appointment, but the Revfik family had to cancel. She went and bought us TONZ of McDonalds. It was bags, bags, and bags. We ate on it for 2 days. She also gave us TONZ of pastries. This lady always gives us every week tonz of pastries for free cause she has her own bakery.

Pa Fredag at 9:00 in the morning we had to go meet with our mission leader at his house and talk to him about our investigators. Then we went over to a lady called K.P. and having a member come with us. When we got there, we had to wait outside of the apartment complex for the member (fifteen minutes early), so we all go in together. While we were waiting, in the complex across the street, we heard people making loud noises. They were so loud that people came out on their porches, thirteen people. We were all laughing and someone, after it way all said and done, wanted us to talk to him a little bit about the church. That was good. The member showed up and we went to our appointment. After that, we headed to N, T, and L's. That night the stores had a big sale thing were the stores don't close until 22:00, so we went with Nicholes (he is a return missionary that Trevor says is way COOL) and walked around. The stores here closed at 17:30 or 18:00 crazy right! It sucked, so that night was kinda like America night!

Pa Lordag had Fodbol in the morning and went to the library and wrote Dad for his birthday. We went to an eating appointment at J.B's with Nicholis. We went to Arhus to go watch General Conference and spend the night with the other Elders.

Pa Sondag I woke up and got ready and went to the church for Kor, Breakfast (for the Elders). I wish it was an American breakfast (eggs, hashbrowns with butter, salt, and pepper, some sausage, and a glass of real milk, not this watery stuff), but nope just a Danish breakfast. We watched General Conference and it was pretty good. That was way, way, way crazy that there will be a temple in Star Valley. I was freaking out and everyone didn't know why, so I explained why. After conference, we rode home with the UV (young adults 18-30) 18 girls and one other guy. Well, Lordag og (and) Sondag I drove a car all over Arhus. It felt good to get behind a wheel again! The best thing was that it was a stick shift. That's pretty much what every car is here.

Thank you for the pictures of the cabin. I miss it so much. That's awesome that the boys are learning how to shoot. Boyz, when I get home, you guys can now pull me behind the four wheeler. I hope Dad will teach you how to drive a snowmobile. Of course, you guys will learn on the Panther. Which is now windowless (sorry). I can hear Dad say, "I can't have anything nice." You can pull me behind the snowmobile's too. Don't grow up to fast boyz!

I think I'm missing their biggest years of growing up! I miss them tonz! Well, I hope you all have a good week. I love you all TONZ.

Trevor and Elder Camp

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."

E.E. Cummings

2011-10-02T15:37:00.001-06:00

Elder Bednar Visits

2011-09-12T09:08:00.022-06:00

(Click to enlarge picture)
The last couple of weeks, Trevor has reported completing service projects, tracking, while being feed. A mother has those worries of starvation out in the mission field, no worries here. When it comes to food, the ward members sure provide for the missionaries. Trevor puts in a lot of time stopping by inactive members homes. For whatever reason they have drifted away, the Elders hope to be the one to guide them back. He is working with a family with an eight and seven year old (around his brother's age). They are teaching the eight year old the required material for baptism. At the same time, preparing the seven year old. His companion was sick a few days and the President's wife said he needed to rest up. Trevor didn't say he was sick, but if the companion is resting-Trevor will rest as well. Trevor was placed in the roll of trainer for the first time while serving in Danmark. He stated that it went well and likes it. They are in need of progressing investigators. When they stop by on the past contacts made by prior Elders, many have moved. They are trying to see who is around and who is still interested, but at the same time getting a few new people. This past week, the missionaries meet with Elder Bednar. Trevor stated it was a good experience to hear him talk. The last time Trevor heard Bednar talk was in our stake conference here in Idaho, right after Mark's talk, prior to him leaving on his mission.

European Medieval Festival

2011-08-29T10:48:00.002-06:00

Tirsdag- We went to the Holbecks and ate there. They have family in Ballerup. We had an appointment with some investigators and then we went and did some stop-by's and had another eating appointment with the bishop and his family.

Onsdag- We had a zone training all dag and it was OK. It was good to see some other cool missionaries.

Torsdag- We went to a bakery in the morning and talked to the owner who is in the ward. She gave us tons of brod and pastries, so cool! We went and stopped by some stop-by's and later that night we went to the bishops and ate. He's pretty cool.

Fredag- Had a few appointments and then did some KT's (stop-by's) and Bank pa dor (knocking on doors). Then we planned and that night we went to the mid-evil festival.

Lordag-We weekly planned, some appointments, and bank pa dor. We went to some mid-evil sword fight, cross bows, and a couple of fire shows- was way cool. The festival was crazy. There were 30,000 people and I got something from there that I'm going to send home.

Sondag-Went to church and went to some appointments after. That night went to an eating appointment and went to Elizabeth's. Everything is going well and I'm doing good.

One of the largest events in Denmark is the annual European Medieval Festival on the last Friday and Saturday in August. The town centre of Horsens is transformed into the largest medieval market town in the Northern Europe with activities and entertainment for families.

I wonder if that is what Trevor is sending home?
It would go with his other masks he got in Haiti.

Spreading the Gospel on Bike

2011-08-22T09:59:00.186-06:00

In the last area Elders took trains, but now I peddle a bike. This week went good and AE. Hardy leaves to a different area. We have all been getting along ready well and like being in a 3some. It's way fun! Today we are going to a ladies home named Meme. She is mexican and talks Danish, English, and Spanish all in one sentence. Kinda funny, but she is a good and awesome lady. Tonight at 19:00 we have family Home Evening with the young adults. It was fun last week and so I'm excited for tonight.
Tirsdag-We did some kontating and then to a restaurant with Nickolis. He is like the missionaries best friend in Horsens. He's a returned missionary himself.
Onsdag- Went to a girl named Louise. She is a member, 19 and married. We flimmed her like those,"I am a Mormon" on youtube. It was for a fireside thing we did for non members which turn out good. Then we went and did some knocking on doors and that stuff.
Torsdag-We had to go get stuff prepared for the fireside that night and then had an appointment with a less active named T. We went to the fireside and presented all the films we made. It was way good and got people wanting to learn more!
Fredag- We had appointment with a man named C. He is pretty positive and a really good 45 year old guy.Then we bank pa dor and kontact.
Lordag-We weekly planned and did some stop-bys and more stuff
Sondag- We went to church and it was pretty well and then we had to go home so I could patch up my tire on my bike from a nail. AE. Hardy had to pack:( Then off to Elizibeth's house like we do every Sondag.
This week was kinda getting to know the area. So, now we can hit it big! I'm stoked! Love you tonz

Note from mom- A call from Sister Laura Dollar.
I joined a internet site for missionary moms. In my Denmark group I posted this note,
Last night, when my husband was finishing up the weekly email to Trevor and for some reason not being able to post it. Mainly, he kept thinking there was something he need to tell Trevor. We received a phone call from Sister Laura Dollar from Alpine, Utah. She went with the scouts to the World Jamboree in Sweden. The scouts attended a sacrament meeting in Kobenhavn, Denmark. The temple and mission president spoke and they had a dinner. Sister Dollar stated that she got numbers from the Elders that were there. She stated that everywhere the group traveled in Denmark, she found the Elders to show a love for each other, and you could feel the love they have for sharing the gospel. She was impressed with the kindness showed to them. This call could not have come at a better time. I have been feeling like I just need a physical hug from Trevor. December just seems to long to wait for a phone call. Last Thursday, my husband and I went to the Logan Temple. We were late for the session we wanted to attend due to construction in the canyon heading into Utah. We just sat quietly and read while we waited. I prayed and said I could use a hug from Trevor and couldn't help missing him. Yet knowing he's OK and happy that he was serving him. This call was the hug I needed. I know December will come quickly, and I will hear his voice on the other side of the line.
A few days later, Mark was at his parents and in the church new paper there was an article on the scouts attending the jamboree with Brother and Sister Dollar.

First transfer- Horsens

2011-08-16T16:21:00.187-06:00

New address

AEldste Trevor Peterson

Sønderbrogade 7, 3TH

8700 Horsens

Danmark

My first transfer is going pretty good here ,not so bad. I actually have two companions. One is AEldste Camp who is from St. George, Utah and the other is AEldste Hardy from Alpine, Utah. They are not bad at all. We are having a good time. AEldste Hardy is with us for two weeks until we have a fireside thing. He is going to Amager which is a suburb of Kobenhavn like Ballerup is. Yesterday, We (AEldste Camp, another AEldste and myself) went to Arhus and fed some deer and it was awesome. AEldste Hardy and another AEldste said good bye to some people before he transfers out of the area and home in October. That night we went to Family Home Evening at the church. Some young adults every Mandag get together to chill, have a lesson, eat, and play games. It was actually way fun. But I still love my Ballerup. The tall tower (picture above) in the middle of those buildings is my place. I live in the tower!

The ocean of Arhus.

The deer jumped up a lot and my shirt was covered in hoof prints. One tried to grab the bag of food right out of my hand, so I was in a tug-a-war.

Facts on the town of Horsens from the internet

It is believed the name Horsens derives from the old danish words hors (horse) and naes (headland). Horsens is a city in east Jutland. The city's population is 53,807. It lies at the head of Horsens Fjord, southwest of Arhus. The city is surrounded by typical marine landscape with low hills and valleys created by glaciers during the last ice age. The earliest trace of a city are remains of a pagan burial site and houses dating back to the 10th century. Excavations have shown that the city was expanded around 1300 with a moat going around the city and its harbor. In the 19th century industrialization started with tobacco and textiles factories. Horsens was a fortified town with several monasteries. The port received its first market charter in 1442 and had become a commercial centre by the 18th century. Horsen is the birthplace of Vitus Bering, who discovered the Bering Strait in 1728. Vitus Bering was one of the the world's famous explorers. in 1728, he discovered that Asia and America are two separate continents, and in 1741 he was the first to map the west coast of Alaska. As Columbus tied together the world to the west, Bering tied it together to the east.
Today, the city contains several museums like several 18th century merchant's houses that show life of the past, fine art, Nimbus, industrial development, world horse trade and breeding, and the Statsfaengsel prison closed opened in 1892 and closed in 2006. A chapel and the late Romanesque Vor Frelsers Kirke, Church of Our Saviour, from 13th century has been restored. The largest technical educational institution, VIA University College is located in the the area. One of the largest events in Denmark is the annual European Medieval Festival on the last Friday and Saturday in August. The town centre of Horsens is transformed into the largest medieval market town in the Northern Europe with activities and entertainment for families. The next largest event in the area is the Crime Festival, in Danish called Krimimessen. This is an event for literary crime, mysteries and thrillers. Every year well known literary writers visit Horsens to discuss their area of literature while walking on the cobblestone streets.

Saying Good Bye

2011-08-08T12:15:00.173-06:00

Just doing some good ol' work and saying good-bye to all the members:( I'm not staying and will be transferring on Wednesday. I'm going to Horsens, I'm not happy at all. I wanted to stay here in this area until the next transfer, but I'm still loving it here. I guess a last second change came up! My new companion is AEldste Camp. It is his last two months of service. Horsen is on Jylland, the long land. This week won't be a long letter cause I can't really remember what happened over the week. On Sunday I got up and bore my testimony and told everyone I was leaving. It was good, kinda a funny story too. I told everyone I was leaving to "Herrens" on Wednesday. The word Horsens left my mind and all I could think of is the word "Herrens." The word Herrens means "the Lord" so I accidently said I'm going to "the Lord" on Wednesday, LOL.

Mission leader and family

Finn & Pernilla

Pachara

I told Veach if I was ever to leave we were going to Tivoli, which is an amusement park like Lagoon. It was way fun and went with six Sister missionaries. Your going to be shocked, but I rode the biggest roller coaster I have ever ridden on, and loved it. I went on it like eight or nine times. It has two big loops and you go upside down three times. So, I"M A BIG BOY NOW! It was awesome and rode some other rides. I was conviced to go onto a ride and when I was buckled in the seat, I told these two girls that were running the ride that I wanted off. They told me "I'm sorry, but I'm not letting you off cause I know you'll be fine." I was a little mad, but I'm glad they didn't let me off.

The Big Boy!

Elders and Sisters in wigs

Elder Veach and Sister missionaries

I love the pictures of the new hot tube and can't wait to get home and jump in. I'll tell ya how traveling to Horsen goes.

Elders joined a scout group from Logan Utah for a meal and fireside before heading into Sweden for the World Scout Jamboree.

Bye - off to a new adventure on this mission

2011-08-01T10:58:00.077-06:00

Over view of the beach

Elders

Hey, I got it out of the assistants last night where I'm going before transfers come out to people. I'm STAYING!!!! I'm so happy. This week when pretty well. On Mandag, we went to play volleyball at the beach with the other Elders in the area. Tirsdag, we did some service for Kjeld and Britta Rassmuen. I cut their hedges and Veach trimmed some trees. On Onsdag just a day of contacting and knocking. Torsday was the same with a visit to Pachara, Frank, and others. Fredag we visited with Finn and Pernilla. We got a new investigator named Ola, and then we went and did some stop-bys. Lordag we went to Herly for the day and met with a lot of our investigators. Sondag, we went to Kor in the morning and we taught the lesson yesterday on charity. It went pretty well and after church we had lunch with the ward. After that we went to the Larsen's and ate there for a snack, then to Presidents Andersen's fireside. Finn, Pernilla, and Sabrina came. We have splits tomorrow so the zone leaders are going to spend the night with us tonight. Yep, six months done -baby steps closer. Time is going by pretty fast, still haven't had one slow day yet. Can you please send me four oldies CD's in my case? They are the four silver without writing on them. We can listen to classical music and that stuff (Mark explained in his weekly email to Trevor the difference in classic and classical. He has some classical on his ipod). Send my hoodie and a big jar of peanut butter for no bake cookies. Also send some Resses peanut butter cups and crunch bars. That's all I think! I hope you are all doing well and send me pics when you figure out the new computer. Grandma McGhee sent me pics of the lake-that's crazy. Love you all, have a great week.

2011-07-25T20:27:00.000-06:00

Hey whats up?

på mandag- Shot some hoops with Veach.

på tirsdag- Contacting day and knocking on people's doors. Æ. Koop and Pierson came over to spend the night because we have splits the next day.

på onsdag- We are doing splits. We had appointments with Pachara, Sammual, Frank, Johan, and an eating appointment with the Fredriksen´s. Frank is a new investigator he is Sammual's friend and he´s way interested in what we teach him. Pachara is doing good still. Johan is slowly coming closer to everything. He said he wouldn't participate in anything, but I ask him to come watch a baptism. He didn't want to because he said that he is not going to do anything. After about 3 or 4minutes, I convinced him to want to come just to see it. He said that he wanted to pick us up, so that was good. That night we went and stayed in Roskilde at Koop and Pierson´s place because we had interviews with the President Andersen the next day.

på torsdag- We had interviews and everything went well. It was my second time having interviews. Interviews are pretty fun because we get to chat and chill with other missionaries. That night we went and ate at Martin Rosendell´s house with his family. He is so cool and way funny. He's is another one of my favorite members. We ate Domino´s Pizza.

på fredag- Met up with Finn and Pernilla and taught them. Later, we met up with Frank taught him. He is from France and working in Danmark while his family is in France still.

på lørdag- We went to Roskilde and watch the baptism. Johan followed through and came and picked us up and we went.

på søndag- We went to kør in the morning and that was good, i guess. Church started and Esther and her family came so that was way nice to see them again. After church, we had an eating appointment and ate with the Kofod´s. They are pretty cool. They just got back from Mexico and Hawaii.

I love you all. I hope you are all doing well!

"If your going to be stupid, You got to be tough"

2011-07-18T12:48:00.028-06:00

Boys will be boys and as Uncle Jeff says, "If your going to be stupid, you got to be tough." My foot got burned because I was burning cloths in the apartment fire place and some of the clothing fell out when I opened up the door. There was a ton of people's clothing from 10-15 years ago. They were taking up room, so I burned them.

Well, this week was pretty good! Had a good time, it went by so fast as every week has so far, which is the best!
Mandag- Our mission leader, his wife, and baby picked us up for p-day and took us to go see the Kristus, a castle, have a picnic, and a boat tour. It was way cool and nice of them. After that they took us to get huge ice cream cones and they had five kinds of ice cream. They filled us plum full! That was a good day. That night we ate with Sister Andersen, an old widow. She's a great lady!

Tirsdag- We went and taught Finn and Pernilla. It went ok and we tracked a lot. That night we ate with Patrick Olsen, his wife, and baby. He's a pretty cool young guy!

Onsdag- We went and looked for some referrals. We got and went over to Esther, but she wasn't home. Again we knocked on some houses for a little while and that night we ate over at Lars Paulsen's house. His family is so cool. They are awesome, they love me.

Torsdag- We tore up my mission leader's driveway. We used bricks for everything, so we had tons of bricks. It was raining like crazy. We were soaked even though we were under a tarp. He bought us pizza and then he came with us to Pachara's apartment to teach him.

Fredag- We did weekly planning and lots of knocking and looking for old investigators.

Lordag - We did some more tracking and knocking on doors. That night we went and ate with Sabrina (new convert) and her friend. We taught her friend a little, so that was good.

Sondag- Had Kor in the morning then church at 10:00. We went over to Ether's. She was there and peeked though her eye hole in the door. We heard her floor creek, but didn't even answer the door. It's been nine to ten weeks since they have been to church. This sucks! Then we went and looked for some referrals and ate with the bishop and his wife.

Additional note: Mark wrote Trevor about being assigned to talk this coming Sunday on service. It was nice to read the growth in Trevor's words and providing input to Mark about his feelings on service as he lives the mission life on a daily bases.

Cultural Experience

2011-07-12T11:29:00.013-06:00

Sjaelland Conference

On July 6, Onsdag (Wednesday) & Torsdag (Thursday),we had a zone conference with a cultural experience. President Andersen had a speaker talk to us about the Danish culture, but he talked about his mission in Germany. We were kinda disappointed not to hear about the Danish history. I think President Andersen was a little disappointed too! Other talks given on the unity within companionships. We went and did a temple session that night. The next day, we went to a museum and saw what living conditions were like when the church first came into Danmark. That was pretty fun. It was pretty cool seeing the buildings, houses and gain the awareness on how the people lived. After the museum we all went back to President Andersen's house for dinner and played basketball, which was way fun!

President Andersen

making candy the old way

Me and Elder Myers
President Andersen gave everyone hoodies.

He acted like a gangsta, which was way funny.

On the 4th of July Elder Veach and I invited the other Elders over to our house to grill and chat. We had a good time. On Sondag we woke up and went to Kor that morning and church. Elder Veach and I taught the guest class. I also said the closing prayer in sacrament. We went to the Ringhiem's to eat dinner. It was really really good food. We loved it. We watched the movie Tangled and it was so fun. The kids love it so much. For the past month, Elder Veach and I have been trying to get a hold of Peter Christinsen, one of my investigators, he loves me. We went over to his house almost every day and it started to stink worse and worse. I decided to call Hendrick Olsen who is a cop in the ward and told him that I thought Peter was dead. Hendrick went to Peter's apartment and Peter did not answer. He went back to his office and looked Peter up in his system. He found out that Peter died three weeks ago, and the smell was his birds rotting because no one was there to feed them. This is really sad, I enjoyed him.

Longest letter to date

2011-07-04T11:19:00.001-06:00

Hey whats up! How are ya all doing? Oh man today's the 4th, its going to be crazy at the lake! This Sunday some people from Alpine, Utah came to our ward and I told them I was from Bear Lake. They said they go there all the time and it just made me miss it so much. I LOVE BEAR LAKE! The wife was Danish so they come here like 1 or 2 times a year, so that's kinda cool!
Well on Monday the 06/27/2011 we went to københavn again as usual! Veach and I didn´t want to go shopping with the rest of the group, so we went site seeing. We went to Nyhavn and hung around there. We also took a ferry ride up and down the canal a little bit, so that was kinda fun to be on the water. After that we went and ate that evening with Par Olsen and his wife. The Frikedelle (pan-fried dumplings of minced meat -Danish meatballs) was pretty good, but I don't know why people think they can put COLD HUGE CHUNKS of potatoes with dressing and TONS of cucumbers in it and think it´s ok to eat it like that. I think they are waisting the potatoes. They aren´t even warm, so well, I´ll say it "IT SUCKS!" I'm sick of it and it's gross. I could just see Grandma McGhee saying "Oh, that actually sound good." lol.

On Tuesday and Wednesday nothing really happend just some stop by´s and contacting and lots of walking. On Thursday we went and cleand the church with Par Olsen. After that we went to the 7-eleven and got ice-cream because, Par Olsen wanted to buy us some. That was nice of him. After that we went to visit Pachara and teach him some more of the gospel. We ask him last Tuesday to be baptized and he said no. He believes everything, its just his mom wants him to be a monk for 1 or 2 years. Also last Tuesday we asked Pernilla to be baptized, but she also said no because she's scarred of water and issues with her children. But back to Pachara`s visit, he's way cool and always happy! After Pachara's appointment we went and tried to go find a less active, but they were not home. We know where they live, so we will be stopping by again. On Friday we did tons of knocking and we went to Fredrickson to knock on doors and contact, it went well. We also went to the office yesterday and got a couple Chinese books (B.O.M.). We saw Æ. og Søs. Ray they work in the office. They are a senior couple from Arizona. A few days ago a guy that Æ. og Søs. Ray and Æ. og Søs. Jensen (another senior couple, but from Utah) had been teaching and had a baptismal date stayed the night at Æ. og Søs. Jensen`s place and took some things of theirs and left in the middle of the night. On Saturday we went at 9:30 to go give Æ. Myer and Jones 2 spanish B.O.M., then at 11:00 we went to our mission leaders house (Joseph Rasmessen) and he made us crapes. They were pretty good, but not as good as Dad´s that's forsure. I miss Dad´s cooking! We also helped him load his piano up in his bil so he coud go play for a birthday party somewhere. Then we went to Herlv and talked to some of our investigators and one of them was Johan. He's from Iceland and 36 years old. He is always telling us to come over anytime. We went, way cool guy! He loves to play the G-tair (wow I for got how to spell it. Oh well, its not like I knew how to in the first place. lol). He wants to be an engineer to design airports and stuff like that. He took a test that was 8 hrs long. This is his final to deside if can be what he wants to be, or not. He is only allowed to take the test 3 time in his life, CRAZY! After him, we came home and cleaned because president Andersen told the whole mission to-inspections.

It was raining so hard, I went out in the rain and got drenched in 2 seconds. Kinda like when mom and I were on the four-wheeler coming home from Katie´s. Do you remember that Mom? My shirt and shorts were soked like someone poured water on me. It was Crazy and way cool and FUN!

On Sunday we went to church. Oh yeah, about twice a month I teach guest class or priesthood. We contacted after church and went home to make some dinner. Today, Veach and I invited our district to come to our house for 4th of July and have a BBQ. So that should be fun! I'm doing well and everything is going fine! From/ Trev

P.S. I hope that this was a good enough letter for ya mom . Just don´t expect the next one to be like this ok! HAHA! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH give Trent and Trevin a hug for me ok. Oh and tell Trent that's cool about his new tooth gone. His mouth is kinda ugly with all those holes in his mouth, but still a good looking kid. I like the mullet! Trevin is that way too right. You guys need to grow some teeth. I LOVE YOU TRENT AND TREVIN, I MISS YOU LOTS!

While Trevor was celebrating his born given freedoms of his homeland with other Elders, We were celebrating with family here at home. Before the family ate the feast of this holiday, they wrote Trevor a quick note. If you have a chance please write him this month. He's not able to write everyone back, but he has stated his appreciation for all the letters from family and friends in his mailbox to open up.

2011-06-30T12:06:00.000-06:00

And if ye do this with a pure heart, in all faithfulness, ye shall be blessed; you shall be blessed in your flocks, and in your herds, and in your fields, and in your houses, and in your families.

D&C 136:11

Burning of the Witch

2011-06-28T14:46:00.002-06:00

Denmark has a lot of holidays or celebrations. This is one that was weird, but pretty cool. Brother Kayl and his wife Brita took us to the traditional yearly witch burning. This burning effigy of a witch is the celebration of midsummer. On the evening of June 23, the entire coast of Denmark is lit up with hundreds of bonfires to celebrate the ancient Pagan holiday of Sankt Hans Aften, or St John's Evening. A celebration of the summer solstice, or longest day of the year, with parties, festivities, and song called "Vi Elsker Vort Land" (We Love Our Country") for leaving the dark Danish winter behind. This has happened since Viking times and considered the best time for gathering herbs and plants for the making of medicines. When Christianity became the official religion of Denmark in 965, the solstice continued, with the church renaming it St. John the Baptist. The purpose of the bonfires are to ward off evil spirits and the visiting of holy spring. This began to be observed each year on Midsummer's eve. The burning of the witch is a custom that allows her evilness to return to the mountains of Germany for a great gathering of witches and allowing the beautiful land of Denmark to be rich with blessings.

Sis. Brita & Bro. Kayl

Elder Veach my second companion in Denmark

Pachara is an investigator and one cool kid.

We went to give him a lesson in our p-days cloths, becasue we had a service project to do right after.

I cleaned out raind gutters and Elder Veach chopped a tree.

Swinging in on people I teach

2011-06-06T08:27:00.250-06:00

"To answer your question, we have a ton of eating appointments. Just this week we had six out of seven days. We would have seven of seven, but we had to cancel it because one of our teaching appointments went longer than expected and then the trains broke down (copper rods and wires run along the side of the tracks. Copper is worth a lot so people steal and sell it) and the buses ran late.

Sometimes it gets embarrassing eating with people. We were eating at our mission leaders house with his wife, when Elder Veach opened the Ketchup bottle and it blew up. The whole bottle went all over. After we got that cleaned up and went to eat again, I dropped my fork and it splattered food all over. The plate was glass and I thought I shattered it, but didn't.
There will be transfers at the end of this week, but we had a transfer two weeks ago because President Anderson needed to switch Elders around because some Elders were heading home-two years done! I'm pretty sure Elder Veach and I are going to stay with each other. Usually Elders stay in their first area for four to six months. Guess what? In October there are going to be one heck of crazy transfers. Fifteen new missionaries are going to be coming. I think four or Five sisters and ten Elders- Crazy right!

I have wrote down several people I'm teaching-
1. S- Danish, new member girl, very nice, we just teach her review stuff.
2. P- Danish, a guy that last week had 23 empty boxes of wine and two full boxes laying around. When he's drunk he can't read the Book of Mormon very well and it's kind of funny. So we just discuss things with him. He wants to be baptized in August, but I think we will have to hold off on that for a little while.
3. E &D- English speaking from Africa, very kind and friendly, Esther was baptised just after I got to Denmark. We continue to review things with them, after she was confirmed they have not attended church for several weeks.
4. S- English, good guy, he is inactive so we try to get him to church whenever we can, and we stop by to see if we can help him with anything.
5. P- Danish, he's from Thailand and he wants to be baptized. His girlfriend in Thailand is a member of the church. The only thing that stops him is his mother who wants him to be a monk for 2-3 years. Weird right?
6. V- Danish, very old nice lady, she believes it all, but she said she's to old Funny. Well just keep teaching.
7. C- Danish, When the last missionaries in the past brought up the word of wisdom, he didn't like that. He is nineteen and likes to smoke and doesn't want to stop.
8. A- English- He is a really good guy, he believes in the concepts of the church, but don't have the time to read the Book of Mormon.
9. D- English, We answer his questions, he loves it when we come over. We usually tie his questions into the gospel, and he really likes that.
10. M- English, he is cool, twenty-two year old agnostic from Belgium and moving at the end of this month.
11. S- English, she is from China with tons of questions. Her husband is talking to his pastor to make a date for us to come to their church and tell everyone what we believe. She kinda wants to search more, but her husband thinks other wise.
12. L- Danish, pretty cool, a total babe, a nine, she has lots of questions each time we go and seems to believe more each time.
13. C- Danish, he is from Sweden and answers the door in his boxer all the time. He is moving back to Sweden, but likes the Book of Mormon. I've never seen him in a shirt. Funny.
14. J- English, she is like forty with five kids. She loves seeing us and says we make her day. She likes talking about Jesus and what his church is about.
15. R- English, He moved away from us when we knocked on his door, he just laughed in our faces and tried to prove us wrong. He said we could teach him though the Bible not the Book of Mormon, but of course we snuck the Book of Mormon in our conversation. He's OK about us teaching him about the Book of Mormon.
16. B&T Danish, they are Jehovah Witnesses. We went over to their house and answered questions on religion, proved them wrong. They are interested in our religion!!! Sounds bad, but it went GOOD!
17. B- English, young girl, she is just I don't know how to describe her.
We have five people we have met and are trying to set up appointments with."

Missionaries new mode of transportation..I wish!

P-day: Elders went to the Hard Rock Cafe & bowling. The meal was 140Kr which is 28 dallors. The hamburger alone was 100kr which is 20 dallors. Crazy right! I know Dad-"Well that's why he don't have any money." I've only ate there once, so it's OK.

New companion/ Zone conference

2011-05-23T20:42:00.207-06:00

Jylland & Sjaeland Zone Conference

"I got a new companion, Elder Veach, he's pretty cool. He's from North Carolina and going to school in Provo. He has been in Denmark for six months. Transfers came early, no one expected it. Elder Ence has now moved into a zone leader position. I got Moms letter right before I left for the library to email you. I didn't get to read the letter, but I looked inside and saw the chocolate chip recipe. THANK YOU. I love Cookie dough! Tell Trent and Trevin thank you for the pictures and I love them so much. We had my first Zone Conference on Friday. It was good (Not. boring and everyone was sleeping). They call it Zone conference because in Denmark we are not allowed to have mission conferences, but are allowed to have multiple zone conferences. There are only two zones in the mission. All the missionaries were there except Iceland. Christian Fingerle and his wife, from Germany, talked most of the conference. It was on braking down the barriers that hold people back from accepting the gospel. I had a good week and my mission is going Great! I'm going to Copenhagen in like 20 minutes for P-day. Copenhagen is really spelt Kobenhavn. You prnounce it Koo-ben-houn. We usually go there every P-day. I've been there so much sometimes two or three times a week. We are going to ride bikes and stuff. "

Snails are all over the place. So if your hungry- es cargo for dinner!

When we got these pictures from Trevor, I showed them to the boys and they became very quiet. Trevin said "Gross." Trent was really quiet for a moment and then with a soft, concerned, sad voice said, "Don't they feed Trevor anything else." He was relieved when I told him Trevor has ate snails before on a cruise, but he's not eating these. Trent still had a wondering look about him for a few minutes.

Elders biking around Kobenhavn on P-day.

Bikes are free to ride around town. Picture of Elders at the famous mermaid statue

Den Lille Havfrue

Pa Danski: Gefion Spring Vandet

Statue of the Danish myth about the Goddess Gefion. She had a deal with the Swedish King Gylfi, that she could have as much land out of Sweden that she could plow in a night. She turned her sons into oxen and they plowed out what is present day Sjaelland.

Green hills around the ocean coast

Phone Call home

2011-05-08T15:26:00.124-06:00

We were excited all day to get our Mother's Day phone call. Grandma &pa Peterson and McGhee had dinner with us along with Shonnee, Trevor's girl friend. He answered multiple questions about his daily routine, companion, Danish people, and the sharing of the gospel. Trevor eats chicken at almost every eating appointment. He has really enjoyed eating lamb. We all looked at our own plates of roast and decide we would stick with it. When Trevor heard what we were eating, he stated it was to make him jealous. Beef is rear to eat due to the cost. He is disliking some of the smorrebrod (open faced sandwiches). Danish don't use two piece of bread and then eat them with a fork. Smorrebrod are made of some kind of meat and cold potatoes and cucumbers. Trevor thinks it will be the food that he gets sick of while serving on his mission. He also stated that often his sticks with the bread and meat. He just misses his bowl full of warm mash potatoes and gravy. Don't worry Trevor, a big bowl will be waiting when you get home. One thing I found interesting is that other religions ask to come as a group to learn about the church. A priest in a Pederstrup parish called the mission office to have someone visit with them about the church. They made arrangements with members of the bishopric, Relief Society, Elders Quorum, and High Priests to organize a visiting activity. On the day of the meeting there were ten members from the ward, missionaries, and twenty-two people from the parish. The meeting Began with a song the parish knew and prayer. Then a member gave some facts about the church, basic beliefs and humanitarian assistance, and included missionary work. Missionaries taught the first lesson focusing on articles of faith and Jesus Christ's Gospel to give them a clear picture of why it was necessary that there was a restoration of the gospel. They watched the last part of the restoration film, and a member talked about the Book of Mormon and current prophets. Each was given a Book of Mormon, and family proclamation. Ward members responded to questions from the visitors. It ended with prayer and refreshments. The parish requested coffee, but none was served. Trevor also told us about a female convert who is talking with her father in another country about the church. Shows how the church is spreading everywhere. Trevor said that Missionary work, in Denmark or other places, not only involves finding people who feel through the spirit that the church is true, or just have an interest in looking into it. It involves frequent contact with converts to help maintain active status. The culture is very open and converts need constant interaction with the church to build a strong foundation to leave old habits behind. It was very special to close the call with Trevor's testimony in Danish. It was very heart felt. Of course, he could have stated the Nursery Rhythm, Hickory Dickory Dock, for all we knew.

Vor Fruekirke Chapel

2011-05-02T10:50:00.002-06:00

In front of the Kristus Statue in the Vor Fruekirke Chapel. On the top of the base it translates "Come To Me." Under that it says "This is my son, the Beloved; hear him." The entry hall is lined with apostle statues on both sides.

Panoramic view from the steeple on the spiral staircase seen on the first picture.

Happy Easter

2011-04-25T16:22:00.001-06:00

Paske (Easter) is celebrated over a three day period.

1. The first day is Skaertorsday (skaer means clean) which represents the last super, the suffering in Gethsemane, and washing away sins.

2. The second day is called Lanfreday (lan means long) which is similar to Good Friday. This relates to the judging of Christ and how long it took to end his life.

3. Paskedag is Easter Sunday where people get together and have Easter hunts, games, and picnics.

The baptism went great with Esther. Her husband David was able to baptize her. They came in their traditional African clothes. On Sunday for the confirmation they didn't come. They contacted the bishop and told him that there was a conflict with a school activity that they paid for several months prior. It was quite disappointing, but she will get the Holy Ghost next week.

We had splits twice this last week, so we rock that week. Splits are when elders come to our area and we split up and go with them to get a lot done. We rocked the area! I am going on week 4 out here in Denmark, cool right! Time has gone really fast.

Oh, the word mark means field and you don't really spell Denmark with an (e). They spell it Danmark. There was a king named King Dan and since mark means field, it's Dan's field. I ride trains and buses everyday.

Copenhagen (Kobenhavn) Temple

2011-04-18T06:52:00.001-06:00

"Hey, everything is going well. I'm excited to call next month. I went to the temple on Friday, it's really different, but pretty cool. When you guys come to pick me up we will go there. A lady came to the church 55 or so and wants to find out more about the church. We are going to be teaching her and she seems way positive. She went to the Temple Square in Salt Lake City and loved it. Her husband is a smoker and he is dying. Elder Ence and I cooked, but he accidentally dropped tozs of pepper on our potatoes. Ok if you can call them potatoes. I had liver paste and it wasn't bad. I just didn't like the texture it had. It looks like canned cat food. For a Danish lunch people put butter on bread then potatoes, hard boiled eggs, bacon, and Salomi. They eat it on one slice of bread and with a knife and fork too. It's weird, so I stuck with bacon and Salomi on my bread. Our days stay busy; we get up and workout for a half hour. Then have personal and companion study, language study all an hour each, eat, shower and head out. We go to appointments and contacting people on the streets. It's weird here with no smoking age. I see seven year old kids smoking and the drinking age is fourteen, but when they get to 7th grade their parents let them drink with them to show them they have grown up. We will soon be teaching a man and his kids. This man is less active, but his kids have not been baptized.

I got to participate in David's Aaronic Priesthood Ordination. Now he can baptise his wife Esther.

So yeah that's kind of what I'm up to."

Arrived In Copenhegan - First Week

2011-04-15T08:03:00.176-06:00

I joined Missionary Mom's website, Denmark group, soon after Trevor received his call. These ladies were great on providing advice in preparation. That is how I knew Trevor's first companion, through his mother on the site. With Trevor's email very brief, it was nice that Sister Ence forward Elder Ence's weekly email to his family. It tells us a lot about Trevor's willingness to take a quick jump into the missionary work.

Trevor's first weekly email on p-day to the family
Address Yderholmen 13
2750 Ballerup
Denmark

"Hey family, what's up! Yeah with Elder Ence and I also met Elder Koop last night. The Elders have already set up a baptism for this 25th for a lady named Esther. So that will be good. They are trying to get her husband to baptise her. He has been less active, but he is coming to church now. They are from Nigeria. The food has been good and the president is cool. I had way bad jet lag. I fell asleep while we were teaching someone (a few times), but Elder Ence would tell them I had jet lag and I was new. So yeah, they all understood. The rest on the flights went well. Everything was good, but long and boring. I love you Trent and Trevin, love you Mom and Dad, tell Grandma & Grandpa's ho for me. Mondays are p-days so we are going to go meet up with some other Elders and do some looking around stuff. Oh, a bag of chicken cost 100 kroner which is like 20 dollars, crazy right. 10 dollars is 50 kroners. To get a kroner you times by 5 and from a kroner to dollar you divide by 5. So 50 dollars would be 250 kroner and 300 kroner would be 60 dollars. so yup. Love ya.

Elder Ence's weekly email to his family

This past week was a busy and crazy one.

Mandag: p-day ate at Jensens Bofhus(steakhouse thing) went inside Domkirken in Roskilde and saw all the fancy coffins, played soccer, and played on this awesome seesaw thing.

Tirsdag: Elder Klc finished packing and I cleaned the house up a little. We had a really good appointment with one of our investigators. We visited some members so Klc could say bye (not many members come to the broadcast of general conference so he didn't get a chance). We then went to Copenhagen and stayed with the AP's.

Onsdag: This was the big day! We went to the church by the mission office and waited for president to open the door and let us in. We met the new missionaries (noobs) and president talked about being a trainer and a trainee and asked us what we liked about our trainers and things. It was way weird to be on the other end because it still feels very recent that Elder Mauler was picking me up. After that, president introduced us to who we'd be training. Drum roll please....

I am training Elder Peterson from Bear Lake, Idaho. Very willing to learn and wants to be a great missionary. He is hard worker-hes a welder and worked on a pipeline before his mission and is very motivated. Anyways, after the little program, we went up to Hillerod to Frederiksborg Castle. I have pictures outside but never been inside. It was a hunting castle. It is so enormous and elegant. It is also the place where the original Carl Bloch painting that the church uses are hung. It was a cool experience. We got bus passes and had an eating appointment with the ward mission leader. We then had ward council and went home.

Torsdag: Elder Peterson unpacked his stuff and I finished cleaning the house. the mice are back by the way. We got Elder Peterson registered at the kommune so he can have insurance. I took him to get a flaeskesteg sandwich for lunch. We had an appointment with Pachara. We had an eating appointment as well so it was way good.

Fredag: This was a good work day. We had a lot of appointments and got a lot done. We had an appointment with Esther and we are finalizing plans for her baptism. We are very excited. I think that it is very nice that Elder Peterson can come into a baptism and have that experience right away.

Lordag: This was also a good day. We did weekly planning and some finding. We also had an eating appointment. We taught a really cool couple.

Sondag: We had church Elder Peterson bore his testimony in Danish and did really well. We were asked right after sacrament to take the lesson in Elders Quorum. We didn't really have time to make it because we were also teaching in guest class, so we just kind of went as it came and pulled it off. Peterson even shared an experience and his testimony in Danish. We had a mission coordination meeting and we ate lunch at the church. We went out and did some finding and then went to President Andersen's open house with Finn, Pernilla, and Sabrina. Sabrina has been called as the 2nd counselor in the young women's in the ward. That is so cool.

Long letter, but a lot happened. I'm really happy to be training Elder Peterson. I think hes going to be a great asset to the Lord in this marvelous work.

Queens Royal Castle

"The guard has a bear skin hat on. We pointed and laughed at him and he really didn't smile or move. It's part of his job. Oh, I told you I look dumb in that hat LOL.

Top 12

2011-04-10T07:55:00.000-06:00

Top 12 reasons what Trevor realized in the MTC

* He didn't totally expect the journey of the unknown he was on

* That he could miss Dad's Sunday roast and potatoes that much

* Leaving his girlfriend Shonnee is very tough

* Missed bugging his little brothers

* Didn't think that he would speak a little Danish in a short time

* Didn't know that he wished to have mail each day

* Wanted to hear about current events in the world

* Could look good in glasses

* Met three other Elders with Alopecia Areata

*Learning things personally about the church that he would not have known

* The power of prayer

* THAT HIS BICEPS ARE BIG, FIRM, AND PERFECT! (That's our Trevor)

Follow me boys!

2011-04-09T22:22:00.010-06:00

Trevor left the MTC, as travel leader, on Monday, April 4, 2011 to Denmark. On the flight from Salt Lake City to Atlanta Georgia the plane experienced turbulence. It would dipped 50 feet in one direction and then swayed the opposite way with a quick rise in altitude for the last half of the way. A child was screaming, a lady was hyperventalating, and people in general were scared. The plane made a hard landing and his companions threw up. He was shaken up when we received his phone call from the airport. He was not sure if he wanted to get on the next plane.

Here is his quick note that he arrived in Denmark April 5, 2011 at . "Hey I'm here. The food is awesome! My address is Yderholmen 13, 2750 Ballerup, Denmark. My trainer is AEldste Ence we are going to rock this place! My first night here we stayed at the mission president's house and the food was awesome. We had chocolate for some of the breakfast. Weird right, but we had it on buttered rolls crazy right. Oh and my p-days are Monday it is different here we went to the Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerod. My mission president is pretty cool and his wife!"

Missionaries arrived in Copenhagen in June 1850, and baptized the first convert in August. Within two months the missionaries baptized 15 people and established both a congregation and mission headquarters in Copenhagen. Other congregations were established throughout Denmark. Despite Church growth, heavy persecution raged against members, and in 1851, a mob vandalized the meeting hall in Aalborg where Church members met.

The first converts to emigrate to the United States left in January 1852. Of about 26,000 people who were converted during this early period, some 14,000 converts immigrated to the United States by 1930. In April 1920, the Danish Mission was organized. Many members served missions and attended the Swiss Temple after it was dedicated in 1955. In 1973, a religious education program was organized in Denmark to educate youth on religious subjects and to prepare them for future leadership positions. The first stake (diocese) in Denmark was organized in Copenhagen in 1974.

Picture 1 Frederiksborg Castle
             2 Chaple in the castle
             3 Royal bed
             4 Orginal Carl Bloch paintings the church uses are hung here
             5 Hallway
             6 Wall in the castle that was hand sewn
             7   Up close sewing on the wall

Here in all my glory!

2011-03-30T13:40:00.008-06:00

Trevor entered the MTC on February 2 and will fly out to Copenhagen Denmark on April 4, 2011. Many have requested his church email address, but missionaries are only allowed to email parents. To obey this rule, Trevor would like you to sent letters to the MTC and his Denmark address below. You may also email letters to Mark's email to forward to him.

Elder Trevor Peterson

Provo Missionary Training Center Box 123

Center 2005 North 900 East

Provo, Utah 84604-1793

Daily Schedule

6:00am Wake up 6:30-7:45 Service Assignment 8:15-8:40 Breakfast 8:40-10:45 Language Class 10:45-11:45 Personal Study11:45-12:45 Companion Study 12:45-1:00 Missionary Directed 1:00-1:40 Lunch 2:05-3:00 Gym, weight room 3:25-6:00 Language Class6:00-6:40 Dinner 6:45-9:00 Missionary Directed 9:00-9:30 Daily Planning9:30-10:30 Free Time10:30 Bed

Jeg(I) elska(love) dig(you) mor(mom) og(and) far(dad).

Fra(from) din (your) son(son) AEldste(Elder) Peterson.

Trevor writes that his experience in the MTC is an overall success. He spends most of his time learning the Danish language and role playing investigators with outside volunteers. He says the food is good and liking his opportunities to eat fish. Definitely understands why some missionaries gain the average of ten ten pound while there. In his short time there, the three companions are already speaking Danish to each other. I thought it was funny when Trevor stated in his letter, "Oh, before I forget could you send me stamps they cost a lot for them." I truly hope he knows that Utah pays the same as in Idaho. He has been a host twice for new missionaries arrivals. As he stated," I'm the one who rips the boys from their families." While in the MTC his p-day is on Wednesday. We are emailing a letter Tuesday night. If you would like send emails to mark by then and we will forward them to him.

Trevor with his first companions Peirson & Powell

Outside the Povo Temple