Mirakler Findes

I promise you that miracles do exist, and this week was full of them. Get ready for a sad, great, fantastic, random, weird, crazy, miraculous, happy week. I think this is one of my favorite weeks of my mission.

Fårup

Fårup was amazing. It was especially great after a long week. We rode one ride that got everyone soaked… right before we left. So that was a lot of fun too.

Let In

A tungringen (not sure how to spell it) let us in. Yes. They let us in, they didn’t know who we were, but instantly he let us in, gave us some water (which we were really thirsty too), and some apples. Now they aren’t new friends, but it gave me hope, and I was super excited to have success and talk about Jesus Christ.

Talents

We visited an old lady in our branch. She’s in a nursing home and has pretty much lost her mind. She would occasionally sit there talking to herself, kept staring passed us, and really didn’t know we were there. You could tell the veil was very thin with her. However, we had an opportunity to help her remember just a little bit. She could sing the songs from church and could remember them all. So what did we do? We sang with her. We sang some of the songs from the hymn book, and the Spirit was so strong. It was sad to see that she couldn’t remember her own daughter’s face, or really much about the church, but I was glad that I could help her remember with one of the talents I feel that I’ve been bestowed with. It was probably the first time on my mission that I’ve felt like I could use my talent (I did sing something at church which definitely was good, but this was something else). This was something amazing, where I could use my talent to serve. I’m brought to the parable of the talents, the gifts we are given from God we must use. We can use them to help others, to help ourselves, and to help God progress his work. Hiding them or not using them to the best of our abilities helps no one. If you have received your patriarchal blessings, read it often, figure out your talents, and try your best to use them often. Your talents are not just in your patriarchal blessings, but one’s patriarchal blessing can be used to discover other talents. Seek and ye shall find.

Care

I’ve found that love is the best way to share the Gospel. We simply remembered someones birthday that told us it, and we brought them over their favorite drink. She was super happy and grateful, and asked us to come back to teach a lesson. Love is how you share the teachings of this Gospel, it is how you apply everything we learn in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Ella og Zaki

We continue to meet with these two every week. Ella is basically my danish grandma, she makes us Boller every week (really good rolls with jam, cheese, or different meats). She also helps a TON with the language! Zaki is progressing a lot and continues to want to go on a mission. I’m super excited for him and can’t wait to help him through the process.

Kitti

Kitti is a member that is returning to church. He went away for a while, but now he wants to come back. He brought his sons to our church meeting this week and he received a blessing from the Branch President. We are going to meet with him and teach him the lessons, which will help me a lot and I know it will help him. I’m excited for him and hope and pray that he will feel the Spirit.

Closer Horses

Let’s just say we got really close when we had to drive a pretty long way with four people in the back of the car. We also went to a members house and got to see their horses, which I forgot that I was allergic to horses… and then I realized it when my nose started running… so I leaned over and told my companion, but we were already too far in - so I just decided not to touch any of them. Boy do I regret it, very itchy, not so fun haha.

Per

So I got to explain a word in Danish, I talked about this word a little while back, pretty much it can be used to tell someone to shut up in a very crude way. But the word in a literal translation is “jaw.” So we met this toothless guy (didn’t have his dentures in and won’t get them until next year) so he said that he was all jaw… I find danish swears really weird, but I’m sure they find our swears weird too (even though they use them too).

Love

Another weird experience. I met this guy, he talked to us about love. How love was the most important thing. But then he switched the tone of the conversation, and started talking about how he loved Satan. And how Satan was just misunderstood… Well if that wasn’t weird enough… He then began to grab my neck and bring me really, really awkwardly close to his face. He looked me straight in the eyes and said “You are _____ beautiful.” (fill in profanity… welcome to Danmark) so. awkward. Fun times.

Memorable

Well since a lot of this has been talking about love, I’m gonna conclude with how important love is. An elder in my district asked me, “What do you think makes someone memorable?” He said another elder told him charisma, but I thought that charismatic people can be real jerks (but they can be made memorable - but I thought about it as famous, not infamous). I truly believe that love is the characteristic that sets one apart from the other. I have always remembered the people that truly loved me, and that truly loved those around them. I think love covers everything. If you love God, you will keep his commandments. If you love others, you will respect them. If you love what you do, you will persevere through it. If you have motivations involving love, you are charitable. Now a lot of people say that they believe in love here in Denmark (pretty much every person that talks to us, just like that weird guy on the street that loves Satan). But I was wondering, what sets us apart - what makes Jesu Kristi Kirke af Sidste Dages Hellige the true church? I think it’s one - our love for others. But that’s not far from other churches, I think it is the restored truths that we have. Things such as eternal families, that we need to love our family forever. Our covenants that lead to true happiness on Earth, given to us by the love of God. Modern day revelation, that can help guide us, that help us to truly love each other. Loving others with something such as an addiction is very hard, and that is what our church protects. The Lord loves us so much, and if we love him too, we will truly find joy in life.

Transfer

Transfers came this week. My trainer left me, and was replaced by Ældste Ogden! Ældste Ogden comes from Gilbert, Arizona. He’s super awesome, I met him before a while back. He likes computer science, gaming, board games, and music. I’m super excited for this transfer, I know we are going to have a lot of fun.

Word of the Week: Over Hoved Ikke! - Directly translated this means “Over Head Not!” which means basically heck no!

Challenge: Go visit the people you are ministering brothers or sisters over, bring them something nice and show them that you love them.

Scripture: Romans 5:5 - “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Pictures: Aalborg castle (built around 1634), Aalborg churches, a really weird statue, the inside of a church, this frog thing I bought called a Kajkage, danish mcdonalds, me and my new companion! :)

I truly love you all. Tell me how you are doing - not just a good or a bad, but I really want to know how you are doing in life. I hope the best for all of you!

Med kærlig hilsen,

Ældste Salisbury