Well this
week marks a change in my life. I've decided to wear white shirts the rest of
my life. It just makes everything easier if you don't have to think about it!
But then a friend send me this picture (included in the attachments) so I've
decided I'll give it a year with the white shirts and then I'll switch. No, I'm just
kidding (except for the picture part). But we switch Mission Presidents this
coming week, so that's really exciting!! President and Sister O'Bryant will be
followed by President and Sister Olsen who arrive in Denmark (after leaving it
earlier this past week) on the 29th.
As for the
weekly news:
Monday was
pretty wet and uneventful. We had no time to do Weekly Planning last week, so
that took most of our work time, (desværre). And then it was also super rainy
for half of the day. So we did some stop by's and then played card games and
talked for most of the day. It was pretty fun! Ældste Moulton is awesome, so we
enjoyed it.
Tuesday was
our last Zone Conference with the O'Bryants! (Along with one of our Assistants
who is going home for medical reasons. So now, Ældste Saviano, my mission
step-father, is the new Assistant) It was a really cool Zone Conference where
everyone was completely involved and trying to get everything out of it that
they could. President O'Bryant gave a training about Justice and Mercy to
explain the effect of the Atonement. It was really good! During lunch, we had
some musical numbers, including a Cup Song flash mob! Two Sisters had written
Danish (and English) lyrics that we all sang. It was really cool!
Wednesday
got wrecked. It was raining/misting all day! We had an hour in the morning
where we helped a bit with a member who is moving. Her name is Kirsten. She's
an older lady who is just waiting to get her mission call, so she's
progressively moving to leave for that. (house to apartment to storage). Then
we went knocking for a while and just got soaked! There were also a lot of
people who wouldn't open the door because it was so wet. So we also did some
contacting previous investigators and such. We talked to one lady who was just
seemed incredibly sad! We really just testified about the peace that Christ can
bring. It was a very solemn and touching experience! Hopefully she reads in the
Book of Mormon!
Thursday was
National Greenland Day! And we did a ton of contacting on the gågade! We had a
couple fun conversations including two younger girls that were really excited
about Mormons Bog. We also had a lesson with René! We just really buckled down
on our expectations and the reason why Mormons Bog is important to us today! In
the end, he committed to come to church and read a specific chapter before
Sunday! It was a super effective lesson!
Friday was a
long day of work! I frankly enjoyed it though! We were out contacting in the
morning, had lunch and some language study with Hans Christian (member), which
was really fun, and then knocking! We went out to knock around Mille, who I
thought we could stop by because we hadn't heard from her. As we rode past, she
was standing outside! So we stopped and she explained that she's been having
quite a lot going on, including her car which was currently being towed as we
stood there talking with her. But we got back in contact! Then, after about 4
hours of knocking doors, we met Karen! We taught her about Mormons Bog and she
said she'd read and was interested in coming to church! Sadly, she'll be on
vacation for two weeks, but we have an appointment set!
Saturday was
Sankt Hans Aften! Basically, it's because Denmark really wants the Salem Witch
Trials to be remembered. They literally just have giant bonfires (some on boats
or on the beach) with fake witches burned on the top of them. I'm not really
sure where that one came from... But we did some good weekly planning,
contacting on the gågade (where Christmas music was playing for whatever
reason), and then some knocking! We had a lesson with Ezekiel, which was good
and awkward. He understood and learned a lot more than last time! But we also
were trying to explain the importance of authority to baptize and it felt like
we just ruined his evening over Google Translate... But he still really wanted
to come to church the next day, so I hope he was alright. During our dinner
hour, we biked over to Palmstranded to try and watch the bonfires, but we came
late and basically everything was burned. It was still really pretty on the
beach though!
Sunday
rolled around! Ezekiel, sadly, texted and said he was sick so we should pick
him up. So we just biked over to church ourselves. And then René came!! And
then Jan too!! Jan is a former member who is ´coming back´ but he's missed
church for a couple weeks. But René seemed to like church as well! Guest class
was a little weird with a visiting Religion Professor, but overall I think it
went well! After church, we ate at the Toft's house. They're a part of the
overall Kristensen family, and Erik Toft is our Mission Leader. They're just
cool! So that was really fun! We also went knocking that evening, which was
good too.
My spiritual
thought at the end of such a long email, is simple in theory but hard in
practice. Hold Ud til Enden or Endure to the End. On Friday, we were out
working all day! Usually we have something else going on, but we had nothing
else to break up the day. It was fun, got boring, and then annoying. But then I
just decided to enjoy it, and it literally made a world of difference!! We had
been knocking door after door where the most interested people were of Nordic
faith or believed that humans were cancer on this world of animals. After a
really long time, we looked at our watches, and it had been 45 minutes. (That
is a pretty short time in a finding block, just as translation from Danish.) I
said something to the effect of "that means we need time to teach
someone" and literally two doors later, we taught a lesson! Truly, God
knows what he needs you to do, but you will be prepared to do it if you are
willing to push through the trials with patience in order to get to the
results! So be more patient in your endurance this week! It'll come! (Also, for
a bonus Spiritual Thought: Compare all of Alma 17 to a missionary, it's pretty
accurate!)
I hope you
all have a wonderful week!!
--
Ældste
Bryant Jepsen
-White Shirt
comment related picture
- Sankt Hans
Aften beach bonfire
- Us on the
beach! (Palmstranden)
- A minion
peep hole!
- Ældste Moulton making Kalskål
- pictures around the apartment
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