Jewish Dinner Rolls anyone?

This week was eventful. That is to say, events were definitely a part of this week. Stay tuned to see what eventful events were evented in Esbjerg! (Evented isn't actually a word, right?)

Monday was exciting! We biked to a bunch of different Genbrug's (thrift stores) throughout the city. We went to the one where Kaj works and he basically gave us a tour of the whole building (which hopefully was ok...). He kept trying to offer us random things, but we were just looking around. We then had a couple stop by's to do from Blitz Splits, which was good. We got in touch with a couple people, but the one we had an appointment with had a note that she was gone on the door. We then hit up the Frelsens Hær (Salvation Army) genbrug where we got a couple things. There was some knocking out in along a bike path we took, which was fun. Then for dinner, we were at Kevin's house! He ordered a "Kevin Special" pizza which is half kebab with lettuce and half spaghetti!! It was really good! He also has a roommate who isn't a member! So we talked a lot with her. She's pretty socialist and super curious, so Martin had some really deep conversations with her. I enjoyed listening to them. We also had some good spiritual discussions too!

Tuesday was fun! We had a lot going on! We had quite a few appointments set up by Blitz Splits, so we headed out there for a good chunk of the day. Most of the appointments fell through though. So we did more knocking and got in contact with the lady we didn't meet on Monday. We also stopped by a cool Vietnamese lady who took a Book of Mormon. (She had a really cute 3 yr old son, who I talked with a bit.) Then we had Coordination Meeting, which was great! Afterwards, the Sisters and us ate dinner at the church (I premarinated some chicken and they brought a salad, etc.) before we met with the Youth! There were about 5 of them, and we watched/discussed President Nelson's broadcast. They had all seen/heard it, but hadn't done much with it. So it was a good evening to review and recommit! They're also super cool!! 

Wednesday was District Council with the Zone Leaders (Ældste Schaffer and Ældste Lex) and Sister Training Leaders (Søster Funk and Søster Peel)! We discussed further application of 'Agents unto themselves' which is our transfer theme. We've enacted a standard of finding hours, which has been actually really cool! It's not hard to meet, but it requires effort. Afterwards, Ældste Schaffer and I were on splits!! It was so fun!! He's an awesome missionary and I just loved being able to go finding with him. We just worked as hard as we could and found a couple people who were interested! It was awesome!!

Thursday was basically wrecked. The Zone Leaders left in the morning and accidentally took Ældste Jensen's bike key (so it couldn't move). They also had lost Ældste Schaffer's suit jacket. So we had a walking day until they could come back that evening after other District Councils in the Zone. So we walked up to Kaj's, and found Ældste Schaffer's jacket on the way! It was hung on an electric box outside! We then had an awesome short lesson with Kaj! He finally admitted the things holding him back from baptism and now we can more directly work on resolving those! Good stuff! He almost always comes to church too, I just don't mention it all the time. We also had a lesson with a man named Snorri. He's Icelandic and has been taught before. He seems ADHD, but said he would start to read Mormons Bog before we met again, so we'll see how it comes along. He's a super nice guy! He also showed us a movie trailer, which was super weird. 

Friday was fun! We had a rough contacting session in the morning, so we got kebabs for lunch. Then while walking back home, we talked to a lady wearing a Bryce Canyon sweatshirt!! It was really fun! She's Danish, but had lived in San Diego and visited quite a bit of Utah. We also met with Thomas, which was good! Then we went out knocking in Andrup. There's basically one Jehovah Witness family there, but they spread out to cover every street!! It's pretty funny. Then we had an eating appointment with our American Jewish friend, Jonathon! He had made some "chala" bread which is traditional for the starting of the Jewish Sabbath. We then answered a lot of his questions about the church and versa vice. It was pretty fun! He then gave us the rest of the chala bread, which is super good and huge! 

Saturday was quick! We had contacting, weekly planning, knocking, then headed to the Bank Grabe Family's for dinner. They're super fun! Ann-Marie and John (parents) are now empty nesters with their two sons (one RM the other preparing to go). They joke with us a ton and tease Ældste Jensen relentlessly! We then went out knocking after, which went pretty well. Nothing too weird from finding that day.

Sunday was good too! We headed off to church, and Steffan came again! (The other Elders met with him on splits.) We had an interesting (kind of deep) Guest Class, which turned out well. After church, we had a fællesspisning (everyone eats at the church). It was pretty fun getting to talk with everybody. Then we took the sacrament to Erik Houborg, who is super cool! We got some good knocking in this evening as well! It was out on Venus, so that was fun. (the street is called venusvænget) We had some pretty bold door approaches, which was good.

As for a spiritual thought, just get excited for General Conference!! As a missionary, we get super excited and have literally been talking about it for weeks now. But it's a huge deal that we literally have a living prophet and apostles that speak the word of God to us right now!! So prepare to give your time to the Lord this coming weekend and you will receive what the Lord has prepared for you!

Have a great week! Thanks for staying tuned and supporting me!

--

Ældste Bryant Jepsen

- Jewish Chala bread (half of the loaf at least)
- Our good friend, Waldo. Our symbol of the people who are ready to receive the Gospel. All the missionaries are looking for him and his friends in Denmark and Iceland.
- Our District Council with Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders where Ældste Iverson took pictures on my camera