I
cannot believe it's already August!! That's super weird! It honestly scares me
that I've almost been here in Denmark for a year, not only a missionary but a
Danish speaking missionary! A missionary that sleeps in Danish sheets, and
breathes Danish air, and bikes against Danish wind (except when I was in a
car)! My Sprog studies are the best they’ve been. I also write to President
Olsen in Danish, which is actually fun! For Sprog studies, I’m reading through
our grammar book to learn principles which include learning new words. Then I
have a Danish dictionary to double check what words actually mean because
translating can only get you so far. Then I also read in Mormons Bog and look
up words I want to learn. Weird stuff!! On a more normal note, it's been a good
week though, so that's good!
Monday was pretty normal. We did our
normal Pday stuff like buying food. Then we went knocking and such. Just
another day in the life!
Wednesday was a cool day of
miracles! We had some contacting and such, had an appointment fall through, so
we biked out to a little suburb city called Haldbjerg. We talked to some interesting
people, but the last two were great! A lady named Anita let us in to get some
water (it's been in the 80's F here, which is extremely uncommon). We talked
about Mormons Bog and she said she'd read in it, but wasn't super excited about
the organized, system of religion. Then, the next door, a man named Jens
answered (without a shirt, remember the temperature). He invited us into his
little greenhouse and picked some fresh grapes for us to eat!! He really likes
playing instruments and actually plays the clarinet, and he's religious! He was
excited to get a Mormons Bog and said he wanted us to come back! So we just get
to bike up the "mountain" a couple times and get him coming to
church! It was an awesome miracle!
Thursday was normal other than a
service project! It was with Arne Holm Larsen and his wife Grazyna! They're
both super awesome! Arne is a member, but Grazyna is not. We helped them spread
woodchips around their yard. As we did so, there were a ton of creepy looking
worm larvae! (Sadly I did not get a picture!) But after a while, Grazyna had
figured out they were dangerous for their plants and so she came out with a
knife and started hunting them!! It was pretty funny. We also had a great
discussion about the Book of Mormon and they said they'd read some together
daily! But they already had one in Polish! (Grazyna is Polish by the way.) It
was super fun! We also went knocking and found a guy named Yan. He was hosting
a party for his son's birthday, but said to come back the next day.
Friday was exciting. We did some
contacting in the morning and met an Australian that lives in Sweden, but he
was super excited to get a Book of Mormon and wanted to get in touch with the
Swedish Elders up in Stockholm! Then we went knocking out in Kilden, another suburb.
We met a guy who let us teach, but we're not sure if he actually would want to
apply it. He had quite a few questions though. Then we had a lesson with Yan.
He is a super cool dad with three young kids. He's been all over the world and
speaks really good English and Danish (and we're unsure of where he actually
comes from...) But we taught basically the Restoration and parts of all the
other lessons because he had questions. He is very interested in religion and
has had some crazy dreams! Like, he dreamed he was in the US where a bunch of
light haired women were signing and then they gave him a Bible-like book that
didn't have a title, but an angel with a trumpet! He's very open to learning
and said he will most certainly come to church, so we're praying that it'll be
a little more life changing than the other religions he's researched because of
dreams.
Saturday was fun. Our contacting was
quite highlighted by a lady who just gushed to us about her problems with her
husband, alcohol, and her children. Long story short, she asked Ældste Ellis if
he would marry her. He felt super awkward and tried to share a scripture after
explaining we can't as missionaries. But then she got super upset that we were
Mormons and had multiple wives so she stormed off. It was quite weird and
hilarious!
We had a lesson with Zibar that
evening, and then he came with us to the Toft family for dinner! It was pretty
good! He's still coming slowly. He loved being at the Tofts though, so that was
an awesome Member Missionary experience!!
Sunday went by really fast. We had
church, where Zibar came again! (Hopefully he finds the time even if he has
school...) Then we had some knocking where we found quite a few good
potentials!! Including a Norwegian man named Steinar. (We're meeting with him
today.) Then we ate at Ældste Ellis' grandparents’ house, which was pretty
fun!
As a spiritual thought, I've
received a request to answer this question: How did you see God's hand in your
life this last week?
These last couple weeks have been
different as far as work. We've had a lot of time to go finding, which has
consequently made me think a lot about who I'm actually looking for. As we all
do, I worried about whether I was being too specific or too general, if I was
going to the right places, or praying about the right things in order to do the
work the Lord's way. During my interview with President Olsen on Tuesday, I
expressed my concerns with him and asked for some guidance. He said "I
feel very impressed to say this..." And then, there he said several things
that really touched me. It was exactly what I had expected, and exactly what I
needed. The Lord truly does know how to communicate with us. I was very focused
on having confirmation of what I was doing, and the support from my wonderful
Mission President strengthened the answer I had been receiving the entire time
from God. I truly testify that you can receive the strength, guidance, and
comfort with that you are struggling with. God knows you, perfectly. He is able
to give you the answer if you are willing to receive it. As my spiritual
thought, it is simply my testimony. My communication with our Heavenly Father
is extremely important to me. He has guided me beyond my explanation and even
when I haven't noticed. He is there and He does help you.
I hope you all have a wonderful
week! Keep praying! :)
--
Ældste Bryant Jepsen
- a family reunion shirt I just got
in a package from home
- Ældste Ellis brought some food
because we biked out a ways
- We had some good bike repairs on the
trip. Good thing it's a pretty view!
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