So we landed in Denmark at about
noon (our time) on Tuesday. Our flight was delayed a bit so we were rushed out
to find where to go. But as we went through the very short and less intense
customs line, we were stopped right after we got through. Apparently we were
supposed to have Visas to say we'd be here for two years... Oops. It basically
ended that we could stay for 90 days if we didn't get them, but we didn't have paperwork so we should send it in. So we told the mission office and that's
find now. So luckily we haven't been deported yet. Granted it would be hard to
find the 11 of us scattered all around the country.(Missionaries 1: Danish
Government 0) Then President and Sister O'Bryant (with the office Elders and
AP's) greeted us and got us some food from this Danish sandwich shop. We went
to the church, dropped off most of our luggage so we didn't have to take it
around for the night, and headed to the office. There we had interviews with
President, ate some pastries, and went street contacting. But we didn't have
enough time for everyone to contact before we tried going to Nyhavn. (Nyhavn is
the only thing that comes up on Google for Denmark, it's all the colorful
houses on the pier) So we were driving there (driving is pretty crazy in
København because there are so many bikes and people walking), and Ældste
Jensen (AP) was called to take us to the mission home, so we abandoned our
pursuit and went there instead. We had Christmas dinner that Sister O'Bryant
cooked for us, and then played basketball and ping pong. Then we all fell fast
asleep. The Danish sheets were super weird the first time though! As in, there
aren't sheets... It's a fitted sheet on the mattress and then a comforter
(called a dyne (doona)), but it was quite nice.
The next day, we had breakfast (baked
french toast is amazing!) then we went to the church to have a meeting and meet
our trainers. It was a good meeting, but honestly I don't remember a ton. We
talked about incorporating Faith, Repentance, and Baptism into all of our
lessons though, so that was good! Then we were assigned trainers and areas!!
Each trainer would talk a bit about their area and the investigators, then the
trainee would be announced and they would introduce themselves. So there were a
couple before me, but then I was assigned to train with Ældste Tate Brown!!
He's from Houston Texas. He's been out for over a year and a half (has two more
transfers after this one) and he went to BYU for a semester before coming on
his mission. He was in BYU Mens Chorus there but has learned to play guitar
while on his mission! And I'm his only son too! (I'm his first trainee.) He's
super kind and patient, and also clean! It's really nice because I have to have
things clean and he's cool with me cleaning anything and helps quite a bit.
We're up in Skive, Denmark. It's the North West on the mainland. We have a huge
area, so we're supposed to have a car, but because there are some changes with
what areas have cars, we don't. We should be getting it back sometime this
week, but another area is giving it to us and it had to be taken in to the shop
for a dent and so it's unavailable. So we're trying our best to walk around
Skive, but we can't visit a lot of people because they're too far away. It's
good in Skive though! It's a small town compared to Copenhagen and Aarhus.
Aarhus is our district meeting place, and it's an hour an a half train ride
from Skive.
Kind of a short summary and/or
stories from the other days because this is already getting to be a long
email... sorry. On Thursday we helped the Branch President's wife with some IT
things and understanding the Family Search people who spoke weird English. That
was a weird thought for me, not all English is the same. But she fed us soup
after and we sat in a Gothic writing class as we ate. It was super weird. All
the people there were older Danish folks who were reading strange Danish things
(Bornholmsk) and translating it to normal Danish. So literally everything was
super confusing for me. Even Ældste Brown was pretty confused. But it was good
food!
We had an eating appointment on
Friday and quite awkward for me. It was with a super nice (old) Danish lady
named Birgit. (Beer-get) She made us Christmas dinner too! So apparently
Denmark has Christmas all the time!! She and Ældste Brown had a really good
conversation, but I only understood some of it. I basically picked out words like
girl, temple, camp ground, and a couple others. Afterwords, Ældste Brown filled
me in that it was about Birgit leaving a child at a campground in Germany all
day to go to the temple, but her babysitters never showed up. But the girl
ended up buying some pears and being fine by herself, so that's good. Then I
shared a spiritual thought about Nephi being diligent in obeying God's
commandments and the blessings that come from diligence. (You can see that in
1Nephi 17:15-16, 3) And she understood everything I said and started responding
to my questions and it was great! I just didn't know what she said... So I
smiled and Ældste Brown took over.
After our District Meeting in Aarhus
on Saturday, we all went to Dominoes for Pizza. I've never been a huge Dominoes
fan, but that's the only pizza I've had here, so it's great! It was really
funny. All the missionaries are convinced it's better here than in the US. I
guess that's a good thing for the franchise though.
My first day at church was super
exciting too! Our church building is tiny and quite old looking, first off. But
that basically matches our branch... We had 21 people in church but 6 of them
were visitors from Germany. Ældste Brown and I blessed the sacrament, which was
quite exciting in Danish! And I was asked to bear my testimony as well. I'm not
one for public speaking in the first place, so another language added on top
was quite intimidating for me. It also just seemed like a super rough crowd
that if I said something wrong they'd probably invite us for dinner so we could
talk about it or something. But I felt quite awkward as I introduced myself,
but it amazed me that the Danish seemed to flow much easier as I bore my
testimony that Christ loves each one of us individually and through him we can return
to our perfectly loving Heavenly Father to live with our families forever. I'm
so grateful for this amazing gospel of love! And that's really what we're here
teaching others. It's not that we need to come give talks in church or that we
need to carry everyone's groceries, though both are great things. This gospel
is that our Heavenly Father loves us. And because of that he wants us to love
him and show our love for him by doing the things he asks. I'm grateful for the
love of this gospel and my Heavenly Father, and I'm so glad I can be here in
Skive to share that message. I know that even though my Danish isn't perfect,
the Spirit can touch people in the perfect way for them. So as I try to help
and share with them, they can feel the love our Father in Heaven has for them.
Thank you to everyone who sent any
emails or letters!! I apologize if I don't get to responding all of them, but
I'll do my best. You're all amazing! Try to see the love our Heavenly Father
has for you this week, and do something about it, whether that's a prayer of
gratitude or serving someone. Go be lights to the world!!
Vi ses!
--
Ældste Bryant Jepsen
- Traveling from Provo
- Seeing Denmark for the first time
-Ældste Brown and I in Skive
- Photos of our apartment
-Danish things in a store
-Our Skive church building
- Traveling from Provo
- Seeing Denmark for the first time
-Ældste Brown and I in Skive
- Photos of our apartment
-Danish things in a store
-Our Skive church building
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