"Public Transportation: How to Best Use Time Volume 1"

The title is very sarcastic and extremely relevant. This week has flown by and there's always been something to get in the way of how the day flows.

Monday (like I explained last week) was spent on trains and in Copenhagen. Refer to "The Kolding Trio (With Sunglasses)" for more information. ;)

Tuesday was a little awkward half P-day, but we actually had stuff to do, so not really. I came to email in the morning, but by lunch time we basically decided just to work the rest of the day. The Zone Leaders had Ældste Birch and Ældste Newton (the Elders from Seden) on splits, so that was fun to see Ældste Newton again! Then we headed out to Lærkevej and followed up with quite a few people. We also knocked some doors. The most exciting thing about the finding session was that we found cheap black beans! There was a Super Bazzar out there and they had canned black beans! I've never seen black beans here, so we bought a couple cans! That evening was insane! We made brownies, had ice cream, and made egg nog! It was a ton of sugar, hence a lot of fun. 

Wednesday was interesting. The Zone Leaders had been testing out a QR code Survey method of contacting, and it seemed to be going pretty well, so Ældste Weaver and I spent some time trying to get our own up and running as well. Then we used the rest of our P-day time cleaning the apartment for interviews the next day. We got out to do some finding as well, but it wasn't particularly fruitful that day.

Thursday was insanely busy. We had district meeting that morning, so we left to Fredericia (public transportation). We got there in a good fashion, luckily. We invited the new Ægtepar missionaries (couple missionaries) the Fonnesbecks. We discussed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was good! Afterward, we practiced our song for Sacrament Meeting and finally decided to sing O Min Fader (O My Father just in Danish). We set up an arrangement and practiced a couple times. Then us Kolding Elders had to sprint down to the bus stop (public transportation) in order to make the right train (public transportation). We then got a call from a member, Lone, and she wanted a Priesthood Blessing. So we arrived in Kolding and hopped on a bus (public transportation) up to her area, but we got lost walking around trying to find it. Finally we got there and decided to split up so some people could prepare for President's interviews. So Ældste Weaver and I walked back to the apartment and cleaned a bit. Interviews went well. I got some good tips on learning Danish. Then we had studies and got an bit of finding in. Which was enough time to find Chris! He's a younger Danish guy who we made an appointment with!

Friday was also crazy. There was a bike repair seminar for all District Leaders, so I stayed in Kolding with Ældste Crop (Ældste Jamison's companion) while they went up to Fredericia. We did some morning contacting and found a couple potentials. Then at lunch we switched companions again and Ældste Weaver and I did some finding and studies before we all left for an eating appointment in Fredericia (on the train, public transportation). It was with the Bennetsons, who are a half vegetarian family (half of the family is vegetarian). So we had some vegetarian food! It wasn't bad though, so that's good. ;) They're way nice too!

Saturday was the return to the Chicken Coop! I took some pictures this time too! We didn't have a ride with any members, so we had to take the train and the bus out to Bent's house (public transportation). Which limited when we could leave. We finished and got back to the train station but had to wait another 20 minutes until our train (public transportation). By the time we got home, we had enough time to do a couple of follow ups, try finding, and have Weekly Planning.

Sunday was another insane day! We got to church early to practice the song with Thomas Bornemann who said he'd play the piano for us. He is incredible!! He didn't even have music and just improvised a piano arrangement that worked amazingly! So we sang that in Sacrament Meeting! We also had the funniest Elders Quorum ever! We talked about keeping the Sabbath Day holy and then transitioned into a Quorum goal of writing a song to submit to the Church. It was hilarious!! So we're going to write a song about the Sabbath! Ældste Weaver and I are in charge of lyrics, so that will be fun! We had Coordination meeting and a Fællesspisning (together eating... I'm not sure how that translates). Then we got home in time for some studies and a bit of finding! We found a man named Kwame who was pretty interested and we set an appointment with him! Then we brainstormed some song ideas that evening.

It was a crazy week. The moral is, use your time wisely. If you don't try to get stuff done, they won't get done. The only reason we were able to find a couple new investigators was because we prioritized finding in our day. Even when there wasn't much time, we were able to use it decently effectively. But also, there are places and things that we can use our time more wisely. So look for something you can do today to use your time more wisely! 

Thank you for the support! Have a wonderful week of strange winter/spring weather!

--

Ældste Bryant Jepsen

-Ældste Crop and I!

-I took some random pictures on a bus. We try to spread out to talk, but the bus was empty.

-Icecream!

-Here's a picture of us cleaning the Chicken Coop/Hotel (the weird circles aren't rain)
-This sign was in the Fredericia station. It's hilarious! (Google Translate if you don't know Danish)(Mom looked up the translation: Do not have your head under your arm for your safety.  Good reminder?!)

 

 

The Kolding Trio (with Sunglasses)

I feel like I start every email with a sentence about the week, so I'm going to change that by having a really long sentence that just acknowledges that fact even though that's not really necessary nor helpful to you as you're reading, however it makes it more exciting, right? Now with that out of the way, it was a crazy week! We had quite a few random plans and lessons thrown all together and then we some how survived.

On Monday, we had our District Activity! It was thrown together last minute but it actually turned out to be pretty fun! We all met at the church in Fredericia and cooked a huge breakfast! We ate at 3, so it wasn't actually breakfast but basically counted for all three meals! The Zone Leaders had to leave early to get to an eating appointment, sadly. Then the Vejle Sisters and us ran to the train station to catch the trains! But they drove away as we were pressing the Open Door buttons! Blessings! The Zone Leaders called right after we missed it and said we were supposed to come to the appointment as well! So we switched trains and went to eat with Christian and Nanna. Christian is the Elders Quorum president. He's a really relaxed and funny guy. They have three kids (boy-5, two girls- 3,1) who took three of us captive on the stairs while Ældste Smith talked with Christian about possible careers. It was hilarious! We had a really fun time!

Tuesday was less like prison. We had a lesson with Rosa, so Niels (the High Priest Group Leader) picked us up. Niels is a pretty young High Priest and he's really tight with the missionaries. He served his mission in SLC so he jokes with us all the time. Rosa is an Icelandic lady, about 24 years old. She's super sweet and made us all pancakes! So we ate pancakes with her and then taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She was struggling with a personal relationship with Christ, so we testified of the Spirit's power to testify of Christ! It was an amazing experience! The Spirit really testified of what we were saying to her and we could all feel it! After that lesson, we had three others planned. Sadly, the first one cancelled. Then the second lesson was burned while we waited at the library for her. And the third was with Maria, and she forgot and didn't contact us! It was pretty rough. But we got to see the First Presidency broadcast, so that was cool!

Wednesday was Trio Day #1. Ældste Weaver and I visited a Less Active named Rigmor and she was really happy to talk to us. She was struggling with smoking even after she was baptized but hasn't smoked since October! After that visit, the Zone Leaders came home from splits for a couple hours. Ældste Smith was headed off to his My Plan meeting soon, so Ældste Saviano joined our companionship. We tried some knocking, but it was a little awkward with three people. So we decided to try the other extreme. We all took separate levels of an apartment stairwell and knocked the doors by ourselves. Ældste Saviano was done really fast because no one wanted to listen, but Ældste Weaver and I both only talked to one person who was decently positive! It was great!

Thursday was kind of awkward, but also fun. We scoped out a college in the morning. It's called SDU (South Denmark University) and we got some super cheap (1 crown) matching sunglasses for all of us! Then we had a lesson with the Zone Leaders' investigator, Thomas. He's a 23 year old Dane. We were waiting in the library for a while and I started watching a guy outside playing with a kendama. I jokingly was like, "That's probably Thomas" but we didn't go ask for a while! So we got to watch him do some cool tricks and such! It was a great lesson! He was happy to learn and was open to meet more! He's a really nice guy too! He said the closing prayer in Danish to try and keep us from hearing it, but then he realized we understand Danish, so that was funny. Right after he left, Maria showed up! She is extremely spunky! She is a former member who is now really involved with the Apostolic church, but has a strong connection with the missionaries (us and the past ones) It's a little weird. She asked Ældste Saviano if he would give her a blessing on Sunday, but that was about all we did.

Friday was an exciting District Meeting! We were combined with the other SydJylland District for the Zone Training. We all wore our matching sunglasses to District Meeting as well, so that was pretty legit. The Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders trained us on helping our investigators come to church. That was a really big focus last transfer in NordJylland, so I thought it was really helpful! After District Meeting, Ældste Weaver and I went on splits with Fredericia. I got to go finding with Ældste Cannon! We found a couple potentials, which was really helpful for them because their area has been having a hard time. Ældste Cannon and Ældste Woodforth are the two Elders in Fredericia and they're both a transfer younger than I am. It was fun!

Saturday was pretty hectic. We woke up and left Fredericia pretty quick to get home for a lesson. Then our earlier lesson with Frank and Elizabeth was cancelled! Neither of them were home, but they let us know so that was nice. So we prepared for our lesson with Rosa. Niels picked us up again and Rosa had made us some Hot Chocolate! Or Scalding Chocolate! I honestly couldn't feel my tongue the rest of the day and it hurt for a good couple days after drinking it. We talked about our personal relationship with Christ and why it's important. She really likes meeting with us, but doesn't want to join the Church. We stopped by an investigator named Kenn. He is a bus driver who's about 50-60 years old. We talked for quite a while and then he invited himself to church! We then had Weekly Planning and Compartmentship Inventory, which is our apartment companionships' inventory for all four of us. It's great! It was really funny! All the other Elders spoke for me, so they all mentioned the dishes, socks on the ground, etc. so that I didn't have to! It was quite nice.

Sunday was weird. We wanted to get to church early, so we took an earlier train. However the bus didn't come for an hour! So we walked! We got there pretty early, which was quite nice. Then my Mom's cousin, Jeff Lund, and his wife were at Sacrament Meeting! The ward announced that a former missionary (Jeff) was attending, so he got to talk to quite a few people. They also gave me a nice package from my family and some fine American foods! (Root Beer and Jif Peanut Butter!)

[*A little more on that from an email he sent to Mom: "It was super fun to see Jeff and his wife! I felt a little awkward, but only because I didn't know either of their names... I only knew they were your cousin and then he tapped me on the shoulder! It was super fun talking to them! They were super kind and happy to see us! Jeff talked to quite a few of the members in Danish too! They announced in Sacrament that a missionary who served here 30 years ago was there, which was pretty funny. :D They gave us a ton of peanut butter and Root Beer too! Ældste Saviano is trying not to drink soda this year, so we'll have to find some happy splits people to drink some. ;) It was really fun, though! His wife (I still don't know her name...?) gave me a hug at the end, which caught me off guard and was a little apostate, and she said it was from you. I kind of gave her a half-I'm-trying-to-be-obedient-but-it's-for-my-mom kind of hug, so I hope you feel the love there! ;) "]  After church, we had Coordination Meeting with our Ward Mission Leader, Alan. And we tried practicing a song for next Sunday but just decided on a different song instead. Finally, we got out of the church building. But we got home just in time to have studies and that was all. It was a rough day. Luckily, I got to study a bit for the Language (Sprog) Test.

Monday was also crazy! I hopped on a train to Copenhagen at 10 in the morning. I went to the Sprog test with Ældste Gottfredson, Ældste Cannon, Ældste Hosac, and Søster Funk (Søster Funk's companion Søster Holbrook also came) The Elders all met on the train in Odense and then we ate a place called Hulk Burger. It was pretty good! Then we all were bored to death in little cubicles and recordings asking how many children Maria had. (That's one of the story questions. The question follows a sentence saying that Maria has two children.) Then we went to the Mission Office, signed stuff, and talked to the Office Elders! We had some trouble getting on the right trains to get everyone home, and then some companions weren't where their companion was supposed to pick them up, but in the end everyone had their companion and were back in their area. I got back in Kolding about 7:30, so we worked on a little survey we want to use at the colleges around. It was a pretty exciting day!

My spiritual thought for today comes from our lesson with Rosa. I've been thinking a lot about the Why I'm serving in Kolding. While we were teaching Rosa, I testified of the Spirit's ability to teach us. As I testified, the Spirit confirmed to me that I was doing the right thing. I'm here to share the gospel and the truth with as many people as will listen to it. That was a really cool answer to me. It also shows that the Spirit will support you as you do what you know you should! Your answer might not come until you start moving! So start going towards the light, and soon you'll be able to see more of what's around you!

Thanks for your support and love! I hope you all have a wonderful week! 

--

Ældste Bryant Jepsen

-I saw a one legged bird this week, so here's a picture :)
-American Peanut Butter
-Hulk Burger!
-This is just some cool Kolding Graffiti
-Here's a picture of the Lunds and I   
 

 

Visitor from the States

Shared on Facebook from my cousin, Jeff Lund, who also served in Denmark years ago and was going back for a visit...

Church in Fredericia today. Met my cousin's son, Elder Jepsen. We dropped off a care package from his mom, Marilee along with some good old American peanut butter and root beer. Great day! — with Marlisa Rasmussen Lund. 

And Jeff also texted: It was a blast. I hadn't been back to the Fredericia Ward for over 30 years. I'm glad we went out there.

A Stinky Week

Contrary to popular belief, stink can also be good! I think, I'm not actually sure but I thought it would be a fun title anyway! This week was pretty packed of randomly exciting things. :)

So on Monday, we basically visited the Shopping Center. I got some Area Book Stuff and tried to find a sweatshirt. Ældste Weaver got a large handful of random things from Tiger. (Which is a wonderful store!) That evening, all four of us went up to some apartment buildings to knock. There were 11 floors and 2-3 doors on each floor, so there were plenty of people. Ældste Weaver and I had gone through floors 11 down to 3 without any success. On floor 3, we talked to a lady who was atheist. She got a little irritated that we kept asking what she believed, but we apologized a couple times and stopped asking questions. Instead we just testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Then she took the book and set an appointment with us! It was a miracle!

På Tuesday, we had a couple appointments. We met with Morten again! He allowed us to pray at the beginning and end of the lesson! It was great! He also really opened up to us about why he isn't very religious. He had a really rough childhood and he didn't see prayer help him through it. But he is happy to read the Book of Mormon, so his desire is coming along! We also had an appointment with a Floridian girl named Brittany, but she ended up giving us the wrong address... So we knocked on a house and the lady who answered was very kind, just also not interested in meeting.

Wednesday was insane! We had crazy splits! The Zone Leaders had splits with the two Odense Elders (Ældste Hosac and Ellis) so they stayed Tuesday night and worked here in Kolding Wednesday. So we had six people that morning. But, Ældste Weaver still needed to complete his Biometrics at the Horsens Police Station, so that morning we hopped on the train up to Horsens. It took about 20 minutes to get that taken care of, which was just enough time for us to miss our train. We had an hour to wait, so we stopped by the Horsens Elders' apartment! Ældste Thorgren and Myers were home too! So we talked with them for a bit as they were waiting for the Aarhus Elders (Ældste Hamp and Fairbourn) to show up for splits! Then the Aarhus Elders started coming up the stairs! So the Horsens Elders gave the Kolding Elders (us) their name tags and we welcomed the Aarhus Elders for splits!! It was hilarious!! Both Aarhus Elders know who we are, but the fact that we were there and wearing the wrong nametags was really confusing! They caught on really fast though. On our way home from Horsens, we picked up the Fredericia Elders (Ældste Woodforth and Cannon) for splits in Kolding as well! So we had lunch in our 4-man apartment with 8 missionaries! It was insane! We went through a ton of food! I had splits with Ældste Woodforth, which mostly just included knocking and street contacting. It was pretty good!

Thursday was District Meeting! We talked about Finding. It was a really spiritual meeting and we all participated, so it was really good! Then Ældste Weaver and I came home and went finding. We talked to a girl named Helena on the gågade for a while and set up an appointment with her. She's a teenager but has thought surprisingly a lot about religion! 

Friday was also quite weird! We did a lot of contacting and knocking, but there wasn't much positivity out of them. We then tried to do Weekly Planning, but just finished organizing and updating the Area Book. That evening, we had æbleskiver to celebrate my 6 Months as a missionary! It's super weird! I don't feel like I've been gone nearly that long. 

Saturday was a service day! We went to Bent's house. Bent is an older member in the ward. The missionaries have been helping him clean out a chicken coop. However, coop is not a good word for it, it is literally a small house! It hasn't been cleaned for 40 years, and therefore had a fairly thick extra flooring, courtesy of the chickens. We spent almost 4 hours cleaning it up and shoveling out chicken droppings. It was pretty stinky (hence the email title) but I actually really enjoyed it. :) I'm pretty sure the other Elders think I'm crazy. I just smiled a lot and kept saying randomly positive things. After the super long service, we went home and did weekly planning. That took almost all of our time, so we spent about a half hour following up with some investigators and contacting.

On Sunday, we somehow also had a really busy day. We had church, which was wonderful! Then Ældste Weaver and I taught our 'Guest Class' on keeping the Sabbath Day Holy (in Danish) which went really well! Then we took the Sisters' Investigator, Finn, to Priesthood! It was a really cool discussion about Sister Oscarson's talk and how we can put our arm around others. Ældste and Søster Johnson (from the Mission Office) were visiting, so there were some translations going on right behind us. Listening to Danish and then again in English is really confusing for me. But then we came home, had studies, and stopped by Rosa! We have an appointment set with her for this coming Tuesday, but we had to switch times. She had been reading the Book of Mormon and was quite excited to have us give her more to read! She's just awesome! I'm way excited to teach her!

My spiritual thought comes from our apartment. We have a little balcony/room called the 'Smoke Room' which is the best place to go and say prayers by yourself. I would encourage you to say a personal prayer out loud this week! It's super simple and could be uneventful for you, but I've really seen a difference when I truly am pouring out my heart to Heavenly Father. It's powerful to give your whole thoughts in words to God. I hope you're able to set some time aside for that this week, it's definitely worth it. 

Thank you all for reading! Sorry that one seemed a little long. Thank you for your support and have a wonderful week!

--

Ældste Bryant Jepsen

-Emailing on Pday from the library
-My Rejsekort (bus/train pass) and Residency card (with the picture)
-Splits with Ældste Woodforth!
-Headed to Service (I'll admit that I did know it was supposed to be a serious picture)
-The Horsens Party!