When Life gives You Lemons, Ride a Pink Bike!

The first week in Esbjerg was wonderful! It's the biggest city I've served in up to this point (5th largest in Denmark as well) and just feels exciting! It's fairly windy, but has incredibly beautiful clouds! Just a few facts about the area: There are a set of Elders and Sisters here serving in the Esbjerg Ward. We have an awesome Ward Mission Leader named Martin Rusbjerg who just recently became engaged to a Brooklyn Downs who was a missionary here just 6 months ago. Overall, Esbjerg is an awesome area and I'm super happy to be here!

Last Monday was Transfer Day! It was basically as follows: Wake up at 4, get on a train 5:30, stay on a train until about 11 where you hop off for a bit in Fredericia, then get back on to arrive in Esbjerg at 12:30. Talk with a bunch of missionaries on the train as they're also off for a new adventure, but remember to pass along some Turkish Delight to Ældste Moulton from Zibar. Once you arrive, realize that you don't have much you need to do except unpack, which is the least appealing activity in this big new city. So walk around a bunch, do some emailing, area accounting, contacting, and eventually unpack everything you'll need. Then get to sleep 18.5 hours after you woke up! It was a really long day, but super fun talking and seeing so many people! We contacted a younger guy named Emil, and he's super religious and took a Mormons Bog, and made an appointment with us for the next Monday, so that was awesome!

Tuesday was less crazy, luckily. We first took in my new bike to get a new chain, because it had been having some problems. Instead of being on foot the whole day, we asked if they had any "loaner bikes" that we could use. And, just as a servant of the Lord could expect, they had one left!! It was a wonderful 7 gear, metalic pink bike, with a low bar and a convenient basket in the front! What more could you ask for!! It was honestly pretty sweet riding around on that beauty! It's a very Danish thing to put your bag in the basket, so I even threw my backpack in there as we biked around! It was pretty sweet! I got to ride it over to Coordination Meeting at the church. Our Ward Mission Leader, Martin, and the Assistant, Johnes Laine are both super cool! Martin is 23 and super active in missionary work. Johnes is in his 50's, part Jewish, thinks, and talks a lot! It's a really fun time! We also had a lesson that day with a 19 year old named Ahmad. He's from Syria, and when he moved, his name was recorded backwards! So his real first name is Jreidah. But he was studying to be a Muslim priest until he saw too many contradictions in the Koran, so he wanted to learn about Christianity! He contacted the missionaries and then we started teaching him! He's super nice and really open! But he's really busy with school, so sometimes it's hard to schedule with him.

Wednesday was District Council! Our District is comprised of Ældste Iverson and Ældste Kofford down in Sønderborg, Søster Wilkerson and Søster Livingston also in Esbjerg, and us two! It's a pretty small but fun District! We also are probably the shortest District in the mission. I'm the 2nd tallest by only an inch!! We made some goals and had a fun lunch! We also had Zone Reports later, with our new Zone Leader; Ældste Schaffer (who is serving in Kolding again)!! It was super fun to talk with him! After all that, we had to say goodbye to my glorious bike and switch it with the classic black Busetto, but it's still 7 speed! We went knocking out in a little town called Andrup, which was pretty fun!

Thursday was a good day! We had a lot of contacting, which included a skater guy who said he was religious and would try to bring a friend with him to church! Later, the Sisters needed a 3rd man for a lesson at the church, so we helped them teach Jusuf. He's really cool, and I got to use my Arabic numbers! We also met with Steffan that evening. He's a super cool 34 year old, who was baptized last transfer, but then backed out of getting the Gift of the Holy Ghost. So we're assessing and helping towards that. He made us some Pumpkin Soup with noodles, which was pretty interesting. Then we discussed some questions he had about the Plan of Salvation and afterlife. It was really good! He loves the missionaries and is super cool!

Friday had a lot of rain! We had some contacting in the morning before it down poured, which was good! One young couple took a Mormons Bog because the girl wanted to convince the man about Christ. So hopefully they'll be interested in learning more! We did weekly planning, and then headed out knocking, which was pretty exciting! It downpoured while we were out there. So we threw our hoods on between doors but couldn't have a Mormons Bog out to show people because it was too wet. We also helped a girl catch her cat that ran out of the house, so that was fun! Ældste Jensen is basically a cat wisperer. That evening, we met with Kaj Langlund, who has been "investigating" the church for over 30 years. The missionaries had dropped him before, but he asked the bishop if he could have the missionary lessons again, so that's why we're there. He had a live concert on the TV when we showed up, which included a performance of some songs from the Book of Mormon Musical. It was pretty funny timing. Ældste Jensen and I were just really confused watching while Kaj cut us some watermelon. Kaj has some pretty fun Jysk danish, which is super fun to listen to!

Saturday was some service for a less active member named Max. He's moving, so we just helped take some things to the dump along with Johnes Laine. (Johnes was there helping as well.
We were not taking him to the dump!) Then we went knocking. One older lady gave us some cookies that she was baking, so that was cool!

Sunday was really fun! Church was wonderful! Martin and Johnes both spoke in Sacrament and Steffan was there! Our guest class with full of people too! I tried to catch as many names as possible and talk to as many people as I could. It was really fun! We had a meeting after church, then took the Sacrament to a man. The rest of the day was contacting and studies. It was pretty good!!

My spiritual thought is from Moroni 1:1-3. Moroni was wandering in order to preserve his life because he "will not deny the Christ." That made me curious to think about what I would do because I will not deny the Christ. I'm willing to learn a new language. I'm willing to study the scriptures for an hour every day. I'm willing to spend 3 hours in church every week. But am I willing to stand apart from others in the activities I choose? Am I willing to bring up my standards in order to defend them? Am I willing to stand by the things I know even if the winds and hail of the devil come my way? It's interesting to think what you truly will do because you have a testimony of Christ. Without action, the testimony isn't helpful. Therefore, act! Do something because you believe!

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thanks for reading!

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Ældste Bryant Jepsen

Photos of me with Friends from Frederikshavn'
-Michael Thomsen (in pink room on couch) 
-Zibar (with ball cap on)
-Hans Christian Olsen (by fence with dog)
-Kasper Kristensen, me, and Erik Toft (in church hall)
-Kurt and Jacob Holm Larsen (with me outside)
-Arne Holm and Grazyna Larsen (outside by yellow flowers)

-The awesome Pink Bike

-Ældste Jensen and I biking