Hawaii at Christmas time

This week was pretty strange, to be honest. That's probably the best way to put it. But it was great, don't worry. 

Last Monday, we went to Cold Hawaii!! I've wanted to go there my entire time I've been in Skive. It's in a tiny town called Klitmøller which basically has one street that comes off the freeway and ends in a parking lot by the beach. It was gorgeous! The waves were beautiful and we got quite a few pictures of the sunset (at 4) while we were there. Unfortunately, the surf shops were closed, so we couldn't get any Cold Hawaii apparel. (Foiled!) We also went tracting in a little neighborhood. There was a young mom who wasn't very interested in our message, but Ældste Haruch asked her if she played the old guitar she had in her garage. She said no and that she was trying to get rid of it. So we walked away with a free guitar! Ældste Haruch gave it to me because he already has one, and then he gave me some strings for it for Christmas! It's not super nice, but it's fun to play around with!

Tuesday was also pretty decent! We had to drive to Holstebro for Ældste Haruch to redo his Biometrics, then we came home and ate lunch in a park. We visited Morten and cleaned his kitchen! It really needed it! It's amazing how much better it looked after just ten minutes of cleaning dishes and putting stuff away. It was quite nasty with left over food mixed in with cigarette ash, but everything was cleaned by the end! Then we tried teaching more about the Word of Wisdom, but he was anxious about going and buying cigarettes, which was quite frustrating. We also stopped by Kamille and Martin, which was super awkward! It was really confusing setting an appointment with them and we'd tried confirming it, but once we got there they said they had expected us yesterday! It was so sad!

On Wednesday, we had our Coordination meeting! It was pretty exciting with the two Sisters there for the first time! Willy and Annette also got a picture with us! They're such amazing people! Both of our appointments rescheduled for Friday, so we went our knocking. It wasn't a very good time and place though, we just kept getting rejected without much thought. Luckily we were able to set an appointment with Ali. This time we met at the church. It was incredible how much better the environment was! He listened! He didn't accept much more, but even the fact that he didn't interrupt and argue was amazing! We testified to him that faith is truly the way God wants us to learn, not by sight. He's still struggling with that, but he recognizes that there are multiple ways of learning so we just need him to get on the right path!

Thursday was Weekly Planning day! I feel like we do that every other day though, it comes around way too quickly! We visited a couple Ældste Brown had visited with me, Poul and Birgit. We only talked to Birgit, and she was hilarious! She was the nicest lady ever, but really didn't want to listen to us. She kept talking about how cute Asian children are and how we're such nice young men, but then didn't want us to come back and teach. Then we visited Morten again. We really just wanted him to understand why the Word of Wisdom is important and set a plan with him to stop everything. We started talking with him and then he just said, "Here" and tossed us his pack of cigarettes. Then we went scavenger hunting! He threw everything he could think of into a bag and then we took it and threw it away (in a different neighborhood). But he called us later that night and admitted that he went and bought everything again after we left. He has the desire to change, just hasn't used the drive for it! I also destroyed my fingertips practicing the guitar, so that's fun!

We had District Meeting on Friday! We also got a call super early that morning from Morten and he told us that he hasn't been able to sleep for days. We told him we'd come over later and to try and sleep before we got there. Our District Meeting was super interesting this time! Because it was the last week, we basically had random stuff thrown in too! I gave the Hvid Hånd Bold tanker (White Hand Ball Thought), which was a play on words because it's supposed to be a Hvid Hånd Bog tanker (Book instead of Ball). I talked about how the ball is necessary to play the game, and the ball represents agency. Without agency, we can't progress and as missionaries, we are here to help others use their agency to the best of their ability. It says in the Handbook that we are advocates for these people, which means we are pleading for them to choose the right. It was surprisingly good! We also had "Elder Hyggeruch's Polka Corner!" Ældste Haruch taught us all how to Polka! It was pretty weird though because I learned the woman's part, but it was strangely fun! Later we went to Morten's. He started out saying and acting exactly the same as our first time meeting him, then throughout the meeting he just got more bugged that he didn't have enough wine. We finally gave up trying to teach and just tried to convince him to stay home and sleep. He was getting up and trying to follow us out the door, but I just felt like I needed to stop him. So I tacked him. Just kidding, I just grabbed his arm as he was going past me, but he stopped. Then I just gave him a hug. That really seemed like the switch for him. He took off his jacket and promised he'd stay home. On the way home I started to cry. It was exactly as I had talked about in District Meeting. We are literally pleading for these people to use their agency to bless themselves. It was really hard to see Morten uncontrollably wanting something that he knows isn't good for himself.

Saturday seemed very short. We got transfer calls in the morning, but it came in the middle of our Personal Study! I will be leaving Skive to go down to Kolding! I'll be companions with Ældste Weaver (who trained Ældste Haruch) and my apartment will also have Ældste Saviano and Ældste Tyler Smith! I'm way excited! It'll be a awesome area! In Skive, Ældste Haruch will be getting two companions! Ældste Evans (coming from Horsens) and Ældste Jared Smith (our Zone Leader from Aarhus)! It'll be quite a party out here in Skive next transfer as well! We basically spent the entire day trying to get two new investigators to reach our weekly goal, but we weren't able to find anyone that day. We did talk to an older lady who kept asking us which part of Denmark we were from, and mentioning that her son lived really close and is named Nils Ris. It was pretty funny. She also tried to give us beer, so that was fun!

Sunday was really spiritual and wonderful Christmas Eve! Our church was at 10:30 and only an hour (but ended up being 45 minutes) long. We had just as many missionaries as members though, so it was tiny! Søster Smith gave a talk, and then Præsident Christensen gave a talk on the importance of Christmas. It was a really strong spirit in that meeting. We met with Morten after church. It was another normal meeting with him. He gave us another couple liters of wine to throw away but then wanted it back by the end, so we just encouraged him to keep drinking water! Then we drove down to Silkeborg with the Sisters to the Bush's! Kirk and Debbie Bush are two Americans from New York who were happy to have us over because we didn't have plans. They fed us duck, we had Danish crackers (which are like English crackers but the jokes are in Danish), and then we read the Christmas story and shared our testimonies. They were amazing hosts and super nice people! I was also the only one who wore the little crown from the cracker the whole evening... But it reminded me of Doctor Who, so I was way excited! :)

Monday was also crazy fun! Christmas! It was also quite rainy. We opened our presents and such that morning, then we drove down to Herning for a brunch at the Forslunds house. It was wonderful! We just spent time with the other missionaries and enjoyed ourselves. We then went back up to Viborg to a member's house to Skype! Her name is Leslie (Leslie Jonsson), she's a Less Active that the Sisters have gotten in touch with. She lives with her husband and her son's little family came over as well. They were super nice people! It was really interesting because everyone knew English and Danish there! For the most part they spoke English, but it was quite a mix. Then I got to talk with my wonderful family! It was strangely anticlimactic, to be honest. I kind of felt like I was just home talking to them. But it was wonderful to be able to see everyone and hear how things are going! They're amazing and I really appreciate their support as I'm over in Denmark on a mission. We then got home and hit the sack. I also thought about starting to pack, so I'll have to actually do that on Tuesday... I leave Skive on Wednesday the 27th. 

My Spiritual thought is the same as the Hvid Hånd Bold tanker. We all truly are advocates for the truth. Look for ways that you can help people protect their agency and make the best choices they can! It's one of the most important thing we're on earth to learn!

Thanks everyone for your support, Christmas wishes, and love! I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas and you continue to see the impact that Christ really has made for you personally! Keep being amazing!

--

Ældste Bryant Jepsen

-Cold Hawaii Photos
-Ældste Haruch and I found this outdoor cage of parakeets, which was cool
-Adam Jensen and I
-Willy (prounounced "Vill-oo"), Annette (pink shirt), Ældste Haruch, and I

Willy is the Skive Mission Leader 
-Morten and I
-All of us in our little cracker crowns at the Bush's house on Christmas Eve 
-Fun on Christmas Morning! 

 

Juleaften with the Bushes (Christmas Eve)

We received this fun picture on Christmas Eve from Kirk and Debbie Bush. So kind of them to feed and show love to our missionaries!

Dear Ældste Jepsen, Ældste Haruch, Søster Hansen and Søster Smith,

Thank you so much for making our Christmas Eve so wonderful. God bless you!

Love,

Kirk and Debbie

Christmas Zone Conference in Jylland 2017

Christmas Zone Conference in Jylland 2017

 (Taken from Mission Mom, Sis O'Bryant's Mission Blog)

Christmas Zone Conference in Jylland was an all-day experience.  We began with training from  President, the assistants, office elders and Sister O'Bryant.  Trainings were on 1) church tours,  2) preparing for the "Book of Mormon Musical", 3) spiritual and emotional peace, and 4) the Christmas Story.  The Christmas Story was intermingled with traditional Christmas songs performed by the missionaries.  It was a wonderful day.  The decorations were... professional, lunch was a traditional danish Christmas meal, followed by singing around the Christmas tree.  Then Santa came...with presents for all, a video of missionary Christmas memories was enjoyed, and the evening ended with "Moana" and popcorn/candy bars.  These mission Christmases have become some of our favorite memories.  We missionaries have grown through our trials and challenges.  We have learned to submit and depend on the Lord.  He is truly leading this mission.  We have worked hard on our goal to bring 60 souls unto Christ this year.  This week, we will surpass the goal.  We feel blessed beyond measure.  We cannot adequately express our love for these great missionaries.  They deserve more than we can give them and yet we do not want to interfere with their personal growth.  They become so much closer to Christ and strive to become more like Him.  Thank you to the families who have sent their sons and daughters to serve.  We love Denmark and the missionaries<3<3<3

-Glaedelig Jul og Godt Nyt År

 (Merry Christmas and Happy New Year)

Christmas is Upon Us!

This week has been super weird. I honestly don't feel like the week has actually passed, but apparently it's gone.

Tuesday was supposedly our make-up P-day, but we had about two hours in the morning when we emailed and then we had appointments until we left for splits in Randers. Both of our appointments burned us, but we sang for the Relief Society in Randers, so that was fun!

Wednesday was spent mostly in Randers. I had a cool experience with Ældste Danielsen-Jensen! We had planned to go Gågade contacting, but neither of us really felt like there was anyone we were supposed to talk to there. We kind of made our way out around the gågade but there wasn't anyone there. We started to think about knocking on some doors, but we weren't sure where, so we just walked along the street thinking. Then I just stopped at a door. I have no idea why I did, but we went into that building and knocked three doors. The third door was a man named Kasper who let us right in and really wanted to listen and was way excited to meet again! It was amazing! Miracles are just the best! We came then went bike riding out to some potentials, but Ældste Danielsen-Jensen's bike had the wheel come loose, so we had to walk back. I totally felt like a real missionary! 

Thursday was our Christmas Zone Conference! I thought Zone Conferences were great, but the Christmas one was incredible! I always love seeing everyone there. We had some awesome training on Chapel tours, the Book of Mormon Musical, and goal setting. Then President O-Bryant gave a training on peace. It was awesome! Then we had Julemad! It was great food, and crazy decorations! We also all sang and danced around the Christmas tree, but it got really crowded and we couldn't really move... Then we got all our packages, candy, and watched Moana! That was by far the most spiritual Disney movie I've ever seen! It was a really good movie, and it had so many parallels to missionary work! It was fun. Then we drove home because we carpooled with the Viborg Sisters.

Friday was awesome as well! We had our weekly planning that morning and then President and Sister O'Bryant came to the church for our interviews. The interview was amazing! President really just helped me understand a lot of questions about what I'd been studying. It was incredible! Sadly, he also left his Book of Mormon in the church once they left! We didn't find it until later that night too. But we went out to follow up with some potentials. We set 4 return appointments and had two new investigators from it! It was also a miracle!!

Saturday we spent in some strange ways. We had an appointment in Struer, but the lady wasn't home. Luckily we were able to give President's Book of Mormon to the Randers Elders who were coming home from splits, so they could get it back to President O'Bryant. Then for lunch, we ate in a park and played giant chess!! We also had Morten call us and ask if we would come eat hot dogs with him for dinner, so we made some stop by's on the way home and took some food over to his house. When we got there, Morten was completely drunk. We were very encouraging and kind, but we both just felt like we needed to leave. Before we got out the door Morten said ''Satan has me.'' It was really hard for us to see him like that. And he was totally right too. Then we had a meeting with Ali, which was probably the most frustrating for me. He kept asking the same questions as the time before and interrupting us during our answer. He's quite hung up that we don't have the Gold Plates, and he hasn't read the Book of Mormon. We're trying to focus on the importance of faith with him, but it's going quite slowly. It was a pretty rough day for us.

Sunday was pretty great though! I gave a talk in Sacrament about Receiving the Holy Ghost. I would highly recommend reading Elder Bednar's talk with that title. Then the four missionaries sang Silent Night (in danish). We had two guys come in off the street and join us! They were looking for another church and asked for directions, but we invited them just to stay instead. We then got to visit Minna, for the last time. She was really happy to see us and we have a wonderful time talking with her. It's been amazing to see how excited she is just to have us come visit. Morten also called us again to have dinner and hot dogs, so we tried it again, but this time he just wasn't home.

This week has basically just flown by. My spiritual thought comes from our experiences on Saturday. This is truly a war that we are in. Ældste Haruch and I talked about how Satan's best tools are those that take away agency and destroy the family, because those are two of the greatest things God has given us! But a war isn't just to sit back and hope it works out well. You can help spread the good. You can Light the World! I encourage you to try your best to share the goodness and the love. That's what this gospel is about.

Thank you for your patience and support! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!

--

Ældste Bryant Jepsen 

-Ældste Danielsen-Jensen and I on splits!

-Giant Chess!

-The Korsgaards and I (they're awesome!)

-Cookies and Fudge from the Francis Family! Thanks! 

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