Kolding down the Snow

This week has been quite normal. I'm not totally sure what else to say about it, honestly. 

Tuesday was our make-up P-day, basically. Because everything was closed on New Years Day, we emailed, bought groceries, bought a desk for Ældste Saviano, and played a game called Mow. Mow is super crazy. It's a card game where you don't learn the rules at the beginning, so you just try to survive until you figure out what's going on. We also talked to a couple people just on the streets, so that was good. We started Top Gun Tuesdays and Throwdown Thursdays where we just speak Danish the whole day, so that was pretty fun! We also got our Periodekort, which is a regional bus and train pass. So that's really spiffy!

Wednesday was a little more exciting. We had Zone Training, which is like Zone Conference but we don't include NordJylland, so it was about a third of the size. It was super fun though! I saw Ældste Angerhofer, Ældste Newton, and Søster Andrizzi for the first time since our first transfer! Ældste Newton and I hugged for a good five minutes when he walked in, which was really funny. I'm excited to have them in my zone! Then the Zone Leaders left for splits, so it was super quiet the rest of the day! Ældste Weaver and I wanted to ride the bus to the other side of the city to follow up with some people, but the bus drove away without opening the doors for us! So we remade some plans and stopped by some other people within walking distance. We stopped by a guy named Morten Due, who seemed interesting, so we made an appointment with him!

Thursday was a crazy weird day! Ældste Weaver needed to redo his Biometrics, so we rode the train to Esbjerg in the morning and visited the Police Station! We waited for a hour and a half to get in and the officials to tell us that we didn't have the right paperwork to get it redone, and also that we didn't even need to do it. But that had happened before when I'd gone with other Elders, so I asked them a few times if we could just do it anyway. But they didn't, so we went to lunch with the Esbjerg Elders before we went got back on the train. Once at the Kolding station, we grabbed our stuff to get off but a wave of oncoming missionaries fought back! We pushed and shoved dramatically (or waited patiently, your choice) but by the time we got to the doors, they were locked and the train started moving. So we got off at the next stop, Taulov. Then we had to wait for 40 minutes until the next train! That was the best time for companionship study! Once we got back into Kolding, we ran to our appointment with Morten. Neither of us really knew how it would go, and it was super weird! We basically just ended up talking about why prayer is good. He doesn't like it, so it was interesting. He also had a lot of posters up of Anima girls, which is awkward when you're trying to look at him and your companion but you see a lot of weird women between the two. We then rushed off to another appointment, but it was canceled last minute.

On Friday, we decided to do something really weird. We all wanted to try the Ninja Challenge, but we modified it so we'd just eat rice for a week. It was horrible! Rice is a decent food, but not by itself. We all ate rice for breakfast, but by lunch time Ældste Saviano was done with it. However Ældste Weaver and Ældste Smith were both still motivated. I was pretty neutral either way. So Ældste Saviano teased the rest of us by eating whatever he pleased in front of us. For the most part, Ældste Weaver and I had weekly planning and then did some stop by's. The Zone Leaders had to go help the Vejle Sisters with a bike problem and then do Zone Reports. So by the time we all got home, everyone (except Ældste Weaver) was doubting if the Rice challenge was actually a good idea. I had already gone most of the day, so I decided to finish and consider on Saturday. Ældste Saviano was petitioning pretty hard to go to a Chinese Buffet, which was very taxing on Ældste Weaver because he loves food. Ældste Smith was also still fairly dedicated to the rice, but the buffet was quite tempting. Basically the three of us had rice (Ældste Saviano made some Chicken Noodle stuff, but I didn't look to closely to what it was so I wouldn't get hungry.) and then we fell asleep at 9. It was a weird day.

By Saturday, the rice had lost all apeal. I ate Cruseli for breakfast (in secret) so Ældste Smith and Ældste Weaver were the only ones still pulling for it. We also got snow that evening, which was exciting! It wasn't even an inch though. But we fixed all four of the bikes, then debated more about the buffet. Finally the three others consented to a buffet that evening. I didn't want to pay for it though, and I thought it would take up too much time. We came to an agreement that we all felt good about, then we went off to do our actual missionary work! Ældste Weaver and I biked across the city (back to Cedervej) and stopped by quite a few people. We were basically frozen by the time we arrived over there, so it was really fun! I honestly loved it! We spent a couple hours out there and then biked back! As our warm reward, we went to the Chinese Buffet. We talked to a couple people there, which was fun! We ate, quite a bit. And then we came home to sleep happy and full.

Sunday was awesome! It was my second week at church! As we hopped on the train to Fredericia, a man said (in English) that he was going to follow us. He then sat by us on the train and we talked to him. His name is Cory Farr. He's moving to Denmark from New Mexico in October as an exchange with the Danish Air Force. He's a way cool member! He hasn't learned Danish yet, so he was excited to hear everyone at church. Our ward is quite fluent in English as well though, so it was a good mixture! I think he and his family will really enjoy it here! Our Fast Sunday meeting was crazy! I was planning on sharing my testimony, but there were too many people who went up and we ran out of time! Then we had Elders Quorum in English for an investigator named Ryan. (He's the Zone Leaders' Investigator) It's pretty interesting with the new class schedule! I'm excited for it and think it will be a good change to not only teach the gospel, but live it!

That's my spiritual thought for the week. It seems to me that the church is moving towards making the gospel inward instead of outward. Where we learn because we search for answers, not only because someone has prepared a lesson. Where the Spirit can teach everyone according to their specific needs and not only a generic need of a larger group. I really like how the gospel really can mean something to each individual. I encourage you to think about how you can make the gospel a little more a part of you this week. Maybe read the Book of Mormon a little more, you could serve someone by sharing a scripture, or even sing a hymn with your family to invite the Spirit. It's really easy and can bring about a lot of good!

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Keep President Monson's family in your prayers and also President Nelson! It's an interesting time of the church, but it is still headed by our Savior. Thank you all for your support and love!

--

Ældste Bryant Jepsen

-Map of Kolding and surrounding area in relation to Skive (up north)
-Our guitar evenings
-An example of a bus schedule 
(maybe that's cool, I'm just low on cool pictures)
-"This is my favorite sweater" (Hank Smith's talk about Ernest Shackleton is fantastic!)