July 28, 2014 - Kenzie reunited again with her MTC companion, Syster Bass, in Taby.

This week I transferred to Täby. It is in the Stockholm Area, which means that this week has been full of many changes for me, being that I have only served in two small towns. Täby is completely different than anything I am used to, but I already adore it. I transferred here on Wednesday, and it has been an exciting few days. We have been to a baptismal service, a few member dinners, but for the most, we have been running around like chickens with their heads chopped off. Since we are opening this area for sisters, we are both completely new to the area. Which means that we have spent a lot of time getting lost. We attempted to take a bus a five minute walk away, but ended up taking forty-five minutes using our iPhone. I wish that you all could see it. It's been a little frustrating, but for the most part, it has been hilarious. We just laugh and just accept the fact that it might take us a while to get familiar with the area. 

 

Going to church on Sunday was a culture shock! I am used to the small branches and wards I have served in, and this ward is completely different. There were dozens and dozens of people there- and most of them Americans who work for the US Embassy. It was so funny to teach Primary in Swedish AND English. I felt so welcome there by all of the members, especially when they said that they have wanted sisters for 12 years and haven't had them. I can't wait to work with them!

 

 

I've been looking at Elders' handwriting this whole week while going through the Area Book. It's an eye-killer.

 

Look who I found. ;)

 

RIP Tan Bag.

You have been the most faithful bag, caring Mormon Boks around all of Sweden. You have endured through crazy transfers, P-day adventures, and gross floors. But unfortunately, you broke at the WORST TIMING this week. But I'm grateful for you. Thanks for everything. 

 

There sure are weird pictures that the Elders left on our Täby iPhone... Elders.

 

Syster Bass. Take 2!

I am so happy that I can be Syster Bass' companion again. I loved working with her in the MTC and share hilarious memories with her. Even though President Beckstrand told me that he didn't know we were companions in the MTC when he assigned us to work together, I know that we were supposed to be put as compies again! She and I have laughed so hard in the past days, and it is a perfect remedy of being stressed about opening an area. I just love her! 

 

Coming home for the first time

 

 

Funny story:

I transferred this week from Karlskrona to Täby, about 7 hours of travelling. Thankfully Syster Carlson could come with me to Täby and help me with my luggage because she had to pick up her new Greenie. But the day of the transfer was CRAZINESS. Syster Carlson and I woke up, got everything ready, cleaned, everything was great! We were prepared. We had to leave at 4:40, and it was only 3, so we went to the store to send off a package for my companion and then took the bus back. The elders were kind enough to help us drive all of my luggage to the train station (only a ten minute walk away). We got off the bus, got to the door, and then realized that I LEFT THE iPHONE ON THE BUS! I freaked out because I knew that we couldn't do transfers without our phone, especially because the tickets were on it. So we had the elders call our phone while Syster Carlson and I brought our stuff down into the mission car. Elder Zaugg was able to get in contact with someone who had the phone, and we were able to meet them and get into the train literally 75 seconds before it left! Talk about close-timing and answered prayers. It was a perfect example to me of how aware God is of us. He allowed someone to find the phone on the bus and get off at a stop very close to our apartment. He allowed us to already have plans that the elders could drive us to the train station- without the car, there is no way that we would have made it on time. It was a tender mercy, and I am grateful for it! I am such a blonde! I lose the phone all the time. Second time this month... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7-14-2014 - I was finally able to get the pics to download

Good Morning, Vietnam!

 

I cannot believe that I am at the computer AGAIN writing another email about the past couple days. And I know that I say the same thing, every week, but time flies so quickly! The weeks seem to go by faster and faster and faster the longer I am in my mission.

 

First, I will share a success story. So, in most emails I have been reading from my friends serving missions, they share awesome stories about finding people on the streets or knocking into someone who is interested in learning more about our beliefs. Sadly, that didn't happen this week. :( BUT! I did have success with missionary work doing Family History. At the beginning of June, President Newell invited us as missionaries to do an hour of Family History every single week. At first, it was painful. I just sat at the computer and tried to find something, but nothing happened. But I have been incredibly blessed and have found so many people to do work for! I now have 122 names that I can take to the temple. I have felt the Spirit so strongly while doing this work, and I am grateful that I have been able to help my ancestors hear about the gospel in a similar way that I am giving Swedes the ability to hear about the gospel. Love it!

 

This week, I was able to teach a truly incredible lesson. It was quite an unexpected lesson, as we were on the train to a training in Helsingborg. It was a long trip, and Syster Carlson and I were talking to each other until I heard someone speak English. Me, loving English, turned to the man speaking and asked him where he was from. He told us that he was here in Sweden for a week from Scotland! He invited us to sit by him, and we discussed beliefs. About five minutes into talking, a man told us that he had been listening to the conversation and wanted to know if he could exress his thoughts. We answered, "Yes!" And there we were, two Mormons, one Catholic, and one Muslim. We discussed beliefs in Jesus Christ and the after-life. We then taught them The Restoration, and I felt the spirit so strongly! It was such a cool opportunity for me to realize how BLESSED I am to be here. Never in a million years would I believe that I would be teaching people from all over the world. But here I am, being blessed to teach people from countries in which they can't learn about the Gospel. (China, Iraq, Pakistan, etc.) I am so blessed. :)  

 

 

Beautiful cathedral in Helsingborg.

 

Helsingborg!

 

I have gotten into the bad habit of "Selfie Sundays"... haha.

Random Things:
 

-The weather here in Sweden is bipolar. One day it is stifling hot, and the next day it is pouring rain.

-Sometimes, I wave or give peace signs to cars driving by and count the percentage of people who wave back/ignore. Right now, it is about 1 waving back to every 20 ignored. Not too bad... ;)

-I have come to realize that if you wave at people when they are looking through the people, they are more willing to answer.

 

I love you all! Have a great week!

 

Next week I email you, I will be 20. Yikes. Hate the thought.

 

 

 

McKenzie's 20th b-day celebration. Also, Kenzie will be transferring to Taby tomorrow and serving with her MTC comp, Syster Bass, again!!! Yay!

This week there has been lots of changes in my life! 

First thing first: I turned twenty years old on Saturday. Yep, the BIG 2-0. It was an amazing day. I woke up at 5:30 am and couldn't fall back asleep before the alarm went off at 6:30. (I think my inability to sleep was a mixture of excitement and the bright sun shining on my face.) I watched some Seminary videos on the iPhone while getting ready and was surprised with breakfast by Syster Carlson. She made us Swedish Pancakes and bacon. Yummy!

Then, it was present time! I opened the gifts from my amazing family and friends. (Shout out to Mom, Dad, Ry, Rick, and Aaron) I received the nicest things from all of them and immediately read all of the letters, listened the music, used the stickers, and wore the jewelry. We continued to get ready while listening to the Finding Nemo Soundtrack (thanks, Mommy!) and headed out the door with bread in hand for companionship study. We fed the pigeons in a park near our house and then went on and taught a few lessons during the day. Then, we had a small dinner and party at the church with the Elders. We had cake, got some super nice gifts from everyone, and then went home.

It was the most amazing birthday- and I appreciated everything everyone did for me to make me feel special.  

 

 

 

Funny story of the week:

McKenzie Hosenfeld is a complete blonde, if you didn't know that before. While on exchanges, I forgot the iPhone on a bench right before getting on a train to exchange back with our companions. I didn't realize until about 20 minutes after... yikes. Thankfully, a man from Iraq let me borrow the phone and I called the elders. They were then willing to pick up the phone and drop it in our mailbox that night. Phew! I was so grateful that they found it!

But later that night, we looked at the phone and saw that they texted President Beckstrand "Slim Jim eats poop on the weekdays". Syster Carlson and I were SOOO appalled! We texted President Beckstrand back and apologized and then was reprimanded for using our phone opportunities too lightly. I wish I could describe to you how mad we were at the elders at that moment! I began to call them and tell them how immature it was of them when I realized that it was all a prank. They had changed President's number to be their own, so we were really texting the Elders instead of President. It was a good laugh... AFTER we knew that they hadn't really said those things to our Mission President!

 

 

Feeding the birds on my birthday!

 

More pranks!

Syster Carlson is training. While shopping this morning, I remembered a prank that I would want to help Syster Carlson pull on her new greenie. When we brought our milk home from the store, we put blue dye in all of the cartons. We are going to convince her that all of the milk in Sweden is colored before it is sold. :) Hehe. Also, the moustache straws are from my mommy for my birthday. Thanks!

 

Visiting an incredible family in the branch and walked into this on my birthday! Thank you so much, Knuttson/Siggelsten Family! 

 

 

 

Visiting a couple branch members at the flee market in a beautiful park! We were also able to see the "zoo". (Pigs, chickens, goats)

 

This sign will be changing VERY soon because.... 

I AM TRANSFERRING!

I got a call from President Beckstrand that I will be opening Täby for sisters with Syster Bass.

So, my thoughts when I got this call:

1. Syster Bass? My MTC Companion? YES! Can't wait to work with her again, we did really well together. 

2. Opening Täby? That's a lot of hard work, but also lots of fun!

3. Wait, Täby? Isn't that the ward that President and Sister Beckstrand go to? ...yes. The answer is yes. Intimidating!

4. Täby is in Stockholm! Much different than the small cities I have served in!

I am REALLY excited to serve in Täby and have adventures there. But I am also going to miss Karlskrona. I have had so many fun memories here.

 

Happy Birfffdday to me!

 

You know, just hijacking a boat.

 

RYLANDER!  

I love you, Ry. You are the best brother EVER and this reminded me of you. :)

 

So cute! Thanks!!

 

 

 

 

My bro, Ariel.

People I am going to Miss...

 

The Blombergs



 

Lina and Lizzy. Love them. (And hello, since I know you are reading this... baha)

 

MimAriel! 

 

The Karlssons! They made my birthday so special- not only did they remember, but they made it memorable. 

 

 

 

Pedja! 

Man, I am going to miss him SO badly. 

Sister Anderson and I contacted him on the street more than four months ago and have taught him every week since, along with seeing him at Soccer Nights. Pedja has taught me about the importance of service and kindness.

We visited him on my birthday, and not only did he remember that it was my birthday, but he also gave me the most thoughtful gift. 

I had the hardest time saying goodbye to him. 

I am SO grateful for my mission, that I am able to meet people who have made such a huge impact on my life. I can't imagine not meeting Pedja and learning from his example. Missions are hard - but they are worth it. Although I hate saying goodbye to the members, investigators, and less actives I have worked with, the sadness I feel is a huge sign to me that I have been affected by these people. 

I LOVE my mission and I LOVE the people who I work with! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kenzie gives a shout out to her Halmstad peeps. :0) July 7, 2014

This week, we celebrated the Fourth of July. It was a special day!

 

First, Syster Carlson made us an adorable breakfast of bacon, eggs, American pancakes, and juice. She also decorated the table with red, white, and blue. We talked about our favorite Fourth of July memories and things we were grateful for.

 

I put on my American sweater and accepted the fact that I would sweat to death in it. It is worth the price of being patriotic. :)

 

Then, we had Open Church hours. I worked on Family History and we listened to Patriotic, classical music. We sung "The Star Spangled Banner" and "America the Beautiful". We did more Family History, and then we taught Pedja. We had a great lesson with him, then we had dinner with a family in our ward. The husband is a Utahn who served a mission here and ended up marrying someone in the ward. We had Sloppy Joes and talked about America. It just felt good.

 

I am grateful that I had a great Independence Day! I am grateful for the United States, and I am so grateful to be here. I love America and Sweden both so much, just in different ways. I am grateful that I can spend time in both amazing countries.

 

I hope you all had a great day!

 

 

 

More than 100 duplicates... sigh. Always work to be done on familysearch.org

 

A little waterfall by our church, which is nicknamed: "Rootbeer Falls".

 

 

 

 

We stopped at Halmstad on our way to Göteborg this week. I just can't stop thinking about the people there who mean so much to me. Shout out to the Lindahl Family, Morgan, Källberg Family, Karin, Lena, Maria. Oh man, all of you! Just know that I adore and miss you more than I can describe. And I WILL see you all again. :)

A funny little something at a house near our church... haha



 

There is this big trend here in Sweden to use something called "Snus". It is similar to a little tea packet that they put under their gums. It has nicotine, so it is highly addictive. It is really common here, and people forget their containers of snus at bus stops. I have seen them everywhere, and recently, I have been collecting them! I know, it sounds crazy, but I remember a story a man told me while I was in Utah that he started smoking when he was 7. I asked him who he got the cigarettes from, thinking that his parents or friends were crazy. He replied, "I would walk around and find small butts on the ground and collect them. Then, I would smoke them when I found a secret place where I thought no one would find me." That story has haunted me! I don't want kids to get addicted! So when I find these containers, I put them in my purse and then throw them away when I get home.

 

This is my stash I found in one day.

 

Yes, sometimes I say that my name is Dory. Swedes just can't spell McKenzie.

 

Pday Adventures!

 

I have been thinking a lot lately about why people are the way they are. I believe that a person is built by experiences they have in their life- that every moment adds to the person you are. I have noticed on my mission how certain opportunities in my life have changed the person I was. Whether it was being an Ambassador in college that helped me be able to work with a variety of people, of Brighton Girls Camp that helped me grow to love the Young Womens Program. I am just grateful for the good and bad times in my life that have shaped me into the person I am today. The silly and independent person I am today. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gift of Tongues, spiders and...Kenzie has a new nickname?!

Hejsan! 

The past seven days have been really enjoyable. (It is super important to love what you do, right?) Lots of random things that made me smile, lots of great experiences that made me feel important, lots of silly laughs. I was extremely blessed to have this week.

Random things:

-Found and removed a tick on my leg. I got the tick from simply walking through a few bushes on the way to church. I spent an entire summer in the Brighton wilderness and never even SAW a tick, and here I got a tick just from taking a shortcut. Bad luck. 

-I absolutely love talking to immigrants here. They are the nicest people, and it is often a confidence-boost to talk to them in Swedish and be complimented for how quickly I have learned. I know that I am FAR FAR FAR FAR from fluency, but the gift of tongues is real. I have a strong testimony of that- when we work hard, He helps us.

-I sung in church this Sunday... twice! And I sung last week, too! Not only that, but I also gave a talk. I am sure that the members are so sick of me. But I love singing- it makes me feel at home. 

-This week was FULL of Spiders. Spiders EVERYWHERE. First, while doing service at a member's house, we found a spider that was absolutely giant. I cannot describe the size because I don't remember how big a quarter is, but it was huge! Then, at church, while waiting to give my talk, a spider crawled right by me and it took every ounce of effort in my body to not scream and run out of the church. God definitely helped me with that one.

-This week I also ate moose meat! Thanks, Syster Karlsson! 

Cool Experiences:

-This week, I have been praying to recognize ways that I have influenced Karlskrona. Something that I have struggled with lately is not feeling like the work I am doing here is doing anything; that I am trying my best and that nothing is changing. But this week, I have had so many tender mercies that have changed my opinion of what a "successful" mission is. Baptisms and reactivating is our focus as missionaries. We are constantly trying to help people grow closer to Christ. But I have felt this week that Heavenly Father is grateful for the effort- that although I haven't been able to teach hundreds of people or baptize dozens, that He is grateful that I am here. He is grateful that I am trying my best. 

-Some members of Halmstad's ward came to church here in Karlskrona! It felt incredible to see and talk to them again. I miss the members of Halmstad so much, and I am grateful for all the people I met there. It is amazing how much love I feel for the members in Halmstad and in Karlskrona. I just love them all so much and I can't imagine not knowing them. They have influenced my life and have helped me realize what I want in the future. I just am so grateful to be here! Ah, I just love it. It is hard, but I love it. 

Sorry that it was just a big ole' babbling sesh. But just know that I love all of you! Keep your head up, enjoy the sun, and know that the Priesthood is meant for men. :) haha.

Love,

Syster McKenzie "Corrie" "Dory" Hosenfeld

 

Kristianstad for District Meeting

 

Uh... seriously? :o

 

There is this really weird shack that is behind our apartment. It literally looks like an old restaurant that was bombed in Iraq. But there are pretty flowers in there now. :) It makes it less ugly.

June 23rd - Farewell to President and Sister Newell and Midsommar

This week, we traveled to Malmö for our final interviews with President Newell.

Side note, thanks to the train strikes here in Southern Sweden, we had to DRIVE to Malmö from Karlskrona. Two and a half hours. Blah.

But the drive was completely worth it. The Conference we had with President and Syster Newell was very special. It was a time for me to think back to the first day I met President Newell. I had just gotten off of the airplane and was exchanging my US currency for Swedish kronor. I had just been traveling for almost 24 hours and was completely exhausted. In all honesty, I was terrified to meet him. But once I did, I remember feeling very excited and happy that I could have such a kind and genuine mission president. 

President and Syster Newell have been such incredible examples to me and I am grateful that I could serve with them here and learn so many lessons from them.

Goodbye, President and Syster Newell! 

 

 

 

 

This week we celebrated a Swedish tradition called Midsommar! It is the longest day of the year, and they celebrate with dancing, games, and delicious food. 

 

Sweden has some pretty cheesy ads...

 

I love the SUN!

 

The longest day of the year- this picture was taken at 9:30 at night. We still had hours of sunshine after that! 

 

 

I cannot get over the clouds today! After the winter I spent here in Sweden, I will never take BLUE SKIES for granted. 

 

Our chapel in Karlskrona

 

 

Fun memories this week:

-Helping to make the Midsummer's May Pole.

-Playing camp games with the kids in the ward. (Told you that Brighton was applicable to the "real world". haha.)

-Complimenting people's beards before contacting them. Totally works.

-Ugly tan lines from my shoes.

Sorry, I don't have much else to say! I love you all and hope that you all had a great Midsummer. Even though I know that all of you in America don't do much for it. :)