I found Oregon in Denmark!

This week was quite entertaining and crazy. It's been kind of frustrating keeping in contact with people. Apparently there's life outside of meeting with the missionaries and keeping commitments or something, I'm not really sure what that's about. ;) But it has been rough following up with our investigators.

I already told you about our crazy Aarhus/Copenhagen day last Monday, so I'll begin with Tuesday! We continued our P-day adventures by going to the coast! It was quite chilly, but way pretty!! We drove out along a causeway type road (like Antelope Island) and stopped by a little alcove of water. There were some seals in the water that would watch us as we walked along the beach. They got kind of close, but I didn't get the best pictures of them. It was cool though! On another beach there were some interesting cement docks. It was super windy so we got really cold, but we walked out to the end of them anyway! It was a really pretty beach! The sand was speckled with colorful rocks and the waves smelled wonderful! I reminded me of the Jepsen Family Reunions we had in Oregon. It was a really fun day trip! We tried some stop by's after our P-day. Elna answered the door and we were just able to set an appointment with her and Helle was home and talked with us for a little while. She's been thinking a lot about coffee, but still drinks it. So we're making small steps with her. It was basically the least Halloween-like Halloween I've had. It was a good day though.

Wednesday was Zone Conference with Elder Sabin! He's the first counselor in the Europe Area Presidency. He gave a large amount of amazing ideas and trainings, so I'll share a few. He talked about how quickly our mission will go by, which wasn't new to any of us. But then he would say that we'd get finish our missions so quickly and then be back in our heavenly home. He had such an eternal perspective! He also gave a story about a girl who really wanted guidance about marriage, so she prepared for conference and every talk was about marriage! But then when she went back to it later in life, none of them were actually talking about marriage. That showed the importance of the Spirit teaching us! We can read, listen, and see any good thing and learn what we need to through the Spirit even if that talk isn't even related to the subject we need help with! It's incredible!! He also gave us some very good ideas on how to "Attack the Day" which went along with how quickly our mission will go by. It was a very good Zone Conference and I'm still working on how to apply the things I've learned.

Thursday was interesting. We tried visiting Karsten after going running and studying, but he didn't answer. Then right before lunch, our power went out. Which was exciting, but we didn't have time to actually worry about it, so we made sure the fridge was closed and then left. We went and visited Elna and the Kvists, but they also didn't answer. Luckily we went to visit Carl before our appointment with Helle, and they were both there! We wanted to have Helle commit to coming to church more frequently, so we talked about the importance of the Sabbath Day. We also discussed tithing a bit as well because she still has questions about that. It was a good lesson and Helle committed to come to church on Sunday! We also offered to help her with some things around her house, but she was too tired that day so we made an appointment for Saturday. Then we came home and tried figuring out our power before an eating appointment. The old Danish power system is quite fun to work with, but after fiddling around with it and calling some Couple Missionaries we got it working again! Then we sped off to the church for dinner with the Christensens and Korsgaards. Our last visit of the evening was with Karsten, who was luckily home! He let us in and said that he'd actually missed us coming by! I was very shocked and basically thrilled that he actually likes us coming over! We had a pretty deep talk with him about why we actually come and what the gospel actually means. He seemed a bit noncommittal, which is kind of normal for him, but he still wants to learn more. It was a good meeting with him to discuss what he actually wants from us as missionaries.

On Friday we were on splits in Randers! It was way fun! We hoped on the train that morning and arrived about noon. Then Ældste Saviano and I walked to a park until Ældster Throckmorton and Schaffer came to show us back to the apartment. It was basically a whole day of stop by's for them, and it was crazy! Ældste Throckmorton and I had the bikes for the day so we took all the farther away people. My thighs are not used to biking up and down hills. (They also weren't very excited to do more than run in the morning, so that was fun) But we got return visits set up with quite a few people and gave out a couple copies of Mormons Bog! It was sweet! Ældste Schaffer also serenaded us on the guitar as Ældste Saviano called around the district. It was quite an exciting splits!

We woke up early on Saturday morning to catch the train back to Skive because the Randers Elders were going to Aarhus to help with a Family History day. While we were switching trains, we started talking with this guy. He was super open to talk with us and asked us quite a few questions. He had some interesting opinions about life, but really likes repentance! We weren't able to talk to him on the train home or catch him in Skive, but we're hoping that we'll find him later and be able to teach him more. We had a really awkward meeting with Elna that day. Her daughter, Ea, was "sick" so she was home watching a show while we were talking with her. We were trying to talk about President Monson, but then Ea decided that Elna needed to eat some colorful hair ties. Basically all productivity went out the window and we just tried to set up a new appointment with her. Then we visited the Kvists! They were home and we talked with literally the whole family, just not at the same time! Steen was surprisingly open, but he didn't stay there too long. But Jacob and Ana were very open to talk and we had a really good conversation about showing God our love for Him. Then as we were leaving, we met Ray! Ray is Ana's husband who lives separate. He's a super kind guy from Manchester, England! We talked to him for a bit outside and then came back to Skive for our weekly planning. Our weekly planning basically turned into trying to call or text everyone that we need to get in contact with, which took a really long time.

Fast Sunday was a pretty good day. I read an talk by Elder Oaks entitled "Desire" and it was really good! Then we had our Fast and Testimony meeting which went really fast and a lot of people bore their testimony. It was a really good meeting! Then our Sunday School class was about Family History, which was cool as well! I was very excited that I could follow along the topic and stay on subject basically the whole time! :) After church ended, Sis. Korsgaard asked Ældste Saviano if he could play the piano for a couple of the ladies to sing. So we hung around and sang with them for a bit. We went to visit Minna to bring her the Sacrament. She'd been reading the Book of Mormon and enjoyed talking with us about some scriptures that we'd read. She's usually lonely so we try to just visit with her and make sure she feels loved. We then raced home to stop by Ib, who was sick still. So we finished our weekly planning instead. We also had some very delicious taco salads for dinner. That evening, we played some darts and we had calls.

So it was an interesting week. :) My spiritual thought comes from Elder Sabin's training. He said: "It doesn't matter how deep the water is. If it doesn't get in the boat, the boat won't sink." I thought that was an awesome quote! It really doesn't matter how rough temptations or the world becomes. As long as we remain faithful, continually repent, and do our very best to keep the evil out of our lives, we will remain spiritually, physically, and emotionally safe. Along with that, Elder Oaks talked about how acting on our desires changes who we become. So I encourage you to think about what desires you're acting on and decide to do things that will help you become more like Christ. 

It's now the last week of the transfer. It's gone by incredibly fast. We'll find out this Saturday if I'm staying in Skive or if I move on to a new place. Thank you all for your support! Keep being amazing!

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Ældste Bryant Jepsen

-Pday Adventure, going to the coast
-Here's a picture of a seal looking at us :)
-Ældste Saviano and I on the beach
-Some dramatic pictures on the cement docks
-We don't know why, but suddenly our path was blocked!? (Tractor came by, eating up the wood path!)
-Ældste Saviano and I in the Randers park of leaves
-The fall in Denmark is gorgeous! Here's some leaves!