Last Monday, Ældste Saviano and I
decided to take a road trip to see some cool WWII bunkers up in Hanstholm. It
was an hour long drive up to the northern most tip of our area, but it was way
cool! The bunkers were all cement and pitch dark, so all the pictures are
solely lit by my camera flash, which we used as a makeshift flashlight. Luckily
the phone also had a little flashlight, so we didn't walk into too many walls
or anything. That evening, we went tracting and we found two past investigators
that were happy to talk with us. We weren't able to make another appointment
with them yet though.
Tuesday was a very long and
seemingly unproductive day. It started off very well though. We made banana
bread (and chocolate) muffins and took them over to Karsten for his birthday!
He let us right in and we talked with him and Jeppe. And Karsten clarified that
he just wasn't feeling well last Saturday and he was still alright meeting with
us, but he's still having Word of Wisdom problems so he isn't ready for baptism
yet. We're still trying to work on his desire to quit. The rest of the day was
just stop by's and finding. Then later that evening we were walking to the
church for our language study and we talked to a girl named Anne. She's 21 and
is a teacher, but only on Fridays. She was very interested and made an
appointment with us for the next day! We were super excited about it and then
started to frantically think of who we could have come as well so we would have
a third man with us.
Wednesday rolled around quickly and
was mostly consumed by our appointment with Anne. We were able to get a hold of
Adam Jensen, a man in our ward, and he was willing to come from Struer (about
an hour train ride away) to be a part of the lesson in the church. We planned,
texted Anne to clarify, and picked Adam up from the station. Then as we were
waiting in the church, Anne texted and said her Grandma was just taken to the
hospital so she wanted to be with her family. That was probably the most
awkward outcome we could have had. Anne did say that she wanted to meet another
time, but we had to then tell Adam that she had cancelled. So that was really
rough. Luckily, we had an incredibly prepared investigator who we met with
later. His name is Ariath (air-ee-at) and he's an African who was raised in
Denmark and speaks Arabic, Danish, and English. He also has a Book of Mormon in
all three of those languages! Our meeting with him was actually kind of awkward
because he already believed in everything we were planning on teaching him!! It
was awesome!! It ended with him committing to read the entire Book of Mormon
before our next appointment with him!! Sadly, our next appointment is in a
month, which means I may or may not still be in Skive for it. But I'm excited
to see him progress towards baptism!!
Thursday was a very relaxed day and
it kind of bugged me actually. We visited Karsten but we couldn't get any
commitment from him and he basically just avoided talking about religious
topics of any sort. Then we tried some visits to our investigators and some
tracting. We also were in charge of the little Family History Center that day,
but it ended up just being Ældste Saviano and I there for two and a half hours.
Our most productive thing was an eating appointment with the Korsgaards and
visiting Ingefred afterwards. They're all members and were very happy to see
us, so that was good!
Friday was a good day though. We had
District Meeting in Herning, so we drove down there. We had the Zone Leaders
and Sister Training Leaders for training this time and it was awesome!! We
discussed the difference of being a guide and a teacher. We, as missionaries,
want to be the guide for the agent (investigator) to learn and discover what
they need to know in the gospel. We are there to guide them through that change
in their life in whichever direction they truly need to go. I thought it was a
very profound and wonderful training! It made me think and change how I taught
lessons. (story on Saturday about that) We then had splits with Ældster Jamison
and Bailey in Herning. So we contacted for a couple hours on the Gågade, had
dinner, and studied the language. With all the comradery of four missionaries
included, of course.
Saturday was incredible. By far my
favorite day of this week. (Sacrament Meeting not included) We were in Herning
that morning, which included their English class and their Sport activity. The
English class was kind of a joke because it was two guys, Hamid and Abdul, who
could communicate with relative ease through English, but it is still helpful
for them. It was way fun for the eight missionaries there though, because we
had four Elders and the four Sisters from Hammerum. Then we played soccer for
sport!! There was much debate on whether we should or not because it was
raining and cold (hence the emails title), but I was a very strong advocate
that soccer was definitely worth it. :) Hamid and Abdul came along as well!
They're very good at soccer too! It kind of ended up being Ældste Saviano and I
against those two. It was very exciting! We had some way cool goals and assists.
The Sisters also got a lot of motivation from Hamid and Abdul about actually
trying to shoot. Luckily, Søster Jex (on our team) was quite motivated and was
happy to score as many times as Ældste Saviano and I could get her the ball. It
was super fun!! It rained for most of the time we were there, but I barely
noticed. I was very happy just being able to run up and down the field playing
soccer. It was also the second time I've used my cleats in Denmark. :) Then we
headed home from Herning to get to Viborg on time for an appointment with Rune.
It was a decent lesson, but he wouldn't commit to coming to church. We then
stopped by Helle to see if she was home. And she was! She let us in and we
talked to her for a good half hour! We didn't have anything planned for her, so
we just asked why she didn't want to be baptized. Then we had a powerful
discussion about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and the Word of Wisdom. She really
likes the Spirit, but drinks coffee very often so she doesn't think she could
be baptized. I felt prompted to ask her whether she would rather have the Holy
Ghost or drink coffee, and after some thought, she answered that she would
rather feel the Spirit!! It was so exciting!! The Spirit testified so strongly
to her that it was right, and she even said that she was feeling the Spirit!!
It was the best part of the day for me. It will be hard to work through it with
her, but she has the vision and the desire! We just need to keep it kindled.
Sunday was also pretty good. It was
Daylight Savings so we got to sleep in an extra hour! We had a family visit
from Belarus. They talked to us quite a bit because the kids were excited to
talk to people who know "American." They were fun though! We also had
Weekly Planning where we accidentally had a little campfire from a candle. We
also noticed that it starts getting dark at four in the afternoon! It's crazy!
This Monday was a really weird day,
which is why today is our P-day. Ældste Saviano had his Danish language test in
Copenhagen (along with the rest of those who came in his MTC group) so I was on
'splits' with Ældste Throckmorton who would also be companion-less. But we were
in Aarhus, where neither of us serve. So we basically just walked around the
city for hours until we met with the Zone Leaders, but it was their P-day
still. So we went shopping and then they left. We then decided to walk to the
church, and on our way we found a free little side table. So we grabbed the
table and walked it to the Aarhus South Elders' apartment! Then they took pity
on us and fed us dinner. We left them with a spiritual thought and walked back
to the station to meet our companions. Ældste Saviano and I finally got home to
Skive at 11:15! It was a super long and crazy day! So that's why today is our
P-day. :)
Today was also good! But I'll talk
about today next week, just to keep you guys coming back to check on my. ;)
Have a wonderful week!! Remember to follow the Spirit, because it will tell you
all things which you should do!
--
Ældste Bryant Jepsen
-Seeing cool WWII bunkers up in Hanstholm last Pday
-Ældste Saviano and I in a bunker we could see in!
(northern most part of our area)
-Ældste Saviano and I in some really dark bunkers
(I couldn't see my camera until the flash went off)
-Ældste Saviano and I in some really dark bunkers
(I couldn't see my camera until the flash went off)
-Our artistic photo on railroad tracks...
-Ældste Throckmorton and I on 'splits' while our companions take a Danish language test in Copenhagen
-Ældste Throckmorton and I tried on some fancy fedoras. We make them look pretty good.
-The Zone Leaders and us trying on some normal European style jackets, of course.
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