Frederiksberg 2 Ældsterne

We have been in Frederiksberg 5 out of 7 days this past week. (Not including today) So we basically are the other Frederiksberg Elders, without argument. We're just always there for whatever reason.

Monday was a day of farewells. We biked in to the office to say goodbye to the backbone of the mission when I first arrived. Ældste Saviano (my 2nd companion in the land) and Ældste Schaffer (my 5th companion) took their group home that day. So we biked in and said goodbye. It was both fun to see them, but sad to know it would be a little while until the next time. Then we knocked. Taught a little to a man from Iran, but he didn't understand much. We then ate with Josh and Hannah Keogh's! They're super fun! Basically always a party. The topic of the night was whether Hannah knew how to cook snails or not. She said she didn't, but Josh was pretty sure she explained it to him once. We're still not sure, but no snails have been cooked as of yet.

Tuesday was productive!! We stopped by an older lady with glasses who we've consistently visited and she finally let us in! She wasn't interested though. She was quite willing to share her opinions and strange/controversial experiences but wouldn't let us share when we tried to. 'Twas frustrating. Thus we went out doing stop by's! We caught multiple people home including some Less Actives and potentials and made several appointments all with single women. Then we had Branch Council where we were able to contribute (in both English and Danish) and had done everything we had been asked last time (including getting new bikes) which I was proud of. 

Wednesday was weird. We had a lesson with Bob where Ældste Flake, one of the Temple missionaries, came with us. Bob was pretty off topic, as usual, but Ældste Flake was in super missionary mode and brought back a ton of weird conversations to make sense! It was a good experience. Then we headed to a Physical Therapist for Ældste Throckmorton which was fairly average. Mostly prep work for working with him. Then we were picked up to go on splits because of MLC. Ældste Throckmorton headed with the Zone Leaders and I stayed with the Frederiksberg Elders.

Thursday was thus a party! Ældste Moulton and Ældste McBride are super fun! We contacted in many different formations with our trio. We tried 3 of us, 2 on one side of the street with the third on the other side, and then contacting in an open area each on his own. Something I really liked was that it forced a personal conversation. Many people were more willing to talk because it was just me. I'll talk a little more about that in my spiritual thought. We also taught Mia, which was really good. She accepted a reading assignment and is still planning on coming to church. She has some concerns with doctrine but couldn't give us any examples. That evening, we went to SUV (Stake Young Adults) for dinner. I got to talk with Christoffer Grabe, whose family is in Esbjerg, so that was a blast.

Friday was back in to Frederiksberg for District Council! Ældste Throckmorton had some very good "Get to Know the District" activities including drawing or acting out your companion. Definitely enjoyable. We also discussed the purpose of being consecrated. After that, we came home and contacted around and ate dinner at Søren and Else Krag's. Their a wonderful older couple who love the missionaries. It was quite hyggeligt with them.

Saturday included weekly planning and knocking! We talked with a Danish lady who met her English husband in Dubai, so that was cool! She studied religion and is a priest, but decided to be a stay at home mom for their two kids. She was fun to talk with. The other people we stopped by were not home, sadly. 

Sunday was exciting. We had Chavalee come to church!! Ældste and Søster Gleason picked her up and we had them and Ulla Paulsen sit by her in church! Chavalee enjoyed it and stayed for Relief Society where she had a good time. She's made some friends there too, which makes all the difference for her. We were very happy about that. Søster Wolfgramm also felt bad that we didn't have an eating appointment, so she invited us to a luxurious breakfast at their house because their dinner appointment was cancelled. It was really fun. They're an awesome couple and have very strong testimonies.

Spiritual thought: Being by yourself makes you stand for yourself. By contacting 1 on 1, I needed to share personal testimony because I didn't have a companion to speak for. It was strengthening for my personally and also touched the people more strongly. It was a very cool experience and can be replicated even with a companion or without a nametag! You can share your personal testimony with those around you at any time! Try it! I dare you!

Thanks for reading! Have a great week!

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Ældste Jepsen

- Chocolate Chips! Literally!
 - Cocio is basically the coolest ad ever

The Three Days of Sickness

I'm pretty sure the 12 days of Sickness should not be made into a song. But if it was, I would definitely have some ideas for the lyrics!

On Monday, we went into the doctor because Ældste Throckmorton was still quite sick. The doctor basically did some simple tests and just sent us home to survive on our own. We visited Amalienborg to see the changing of the Queens' guards. That was cool! While we were there, the Assistants stole our women bikes and gave us the bikes from Esbjerg. We then visited Vor Frue Kirke where the original Christus statue is. It was really pretty! There were a lot of art students in there sketching, which was fun. Our work time was mostly fixing the bikes up so they wouldn't fall apart in the near future. Then we went contacting. There was a film crew over on Dagøgade, so we talked with one of the security guards. He was super nice! The film doesn't have a name as far as he knows, but they were filming from 8pm until 2am, so it's got to be exciting.

Tuesday morning, Søster Olsen and the Area Doctor sentenced us to isolation so that Ældste Throckmorton could be healthy again. So, we basically did a lot of laundry, cleaning, scripture study, etc. We baked breadsticks, which was fun! Also watched several church movies in different languages. Ældste Wright and Ældste Moulton came over that evening to help give him a blessing, so they took some breadsticks with them. 

Wednesday was the same. We baked a spice cake that day, which Ældste Throckmorton decorated with fancy icing. (picture below) I also cleaned some more and wrote letters to previous companions who are leaving (shout out to Ældste Saviano and Ældste Schaffer). We also studied Come, Follow Me which was good. 

Thursday was just a weird continuation of isolation. We went to the doctors again where they basically said there definitely wasn't anything serious. So we tried some contacting but it wasn't helping Ældste Throckmorton's cough. So I practiced throwing the "I'm a Mormon" cards because we won't use those ever! I got fairly good except if I used my left hand. We also read and listened to a lot of talks about revelation to prepare for District Council.

Friday was significantly better! Ældste Throckmorton was feeling much better (still small cough). So we took the Metro in to go to the Temple!! We went as a District, which was awesome!! T'was the first time I'd been since our 30 day in meeting when we arrived in Denmark. We then had District Council about Revelation, which was great! I felt quite prepared because we had listened to so many talks. We went contacting once we got home. One man was super happy to talk, but had some interesting beliefs. He started being atheist, but then changed to believe in God, but ended up settling for believing in towers. (All cultures have towers for various things, so you can live in one, see one, believe in one... right?) Very interesting conversation, needless to say.

Saturday was normal! We had transfer calls, and we two are staying the same! Ældste Throckmorton is District Leader this coming transfer, so that will be a party! (He'll do awesome!) Then we contacted and stopped by a couple people who weren't home. We bought some Fastelavnsboller, which were delicious! We then stopped by Mathias who was walking home as we biked away from his vacant apartment, so we talked a bit with him. Then we went knocking where we talked with quite a few people, but most of them were busy so we have to visit another time. It was really fun to get out working again though!

Sunday included church! Church was busy! A lot of random visitors, which was fun. We also had SOS (Family History and Sandwiches) afterwards! We were asked about 80 times if we were excited to Skype our families, which we didn't really have information about, so we just got a lot of rumors told to us, which was interesting. Then we did some contacting and biked in to eat with Ældste and Søster Sorensen who work in the temple. It was pretty fun! 

Spiritually thinking, we've had a focus on revelation this past week. We read a speech given by President Oaks at BYU in 1981 which I would highly recommend! Here's one quote I really liked about not receiving a specific answer: "I suggest that there is not a right and wrong to every question. To many questions, there are only two wrong answers or two right answers." I really liked that because I often feel like one answer must be better than the other, therefore making the other answer disappointing to the Lord. However, we can often have questions where either answer or choice are equally acceptable to Him, in which case he leaves the choice up to our free agency! How amazing it is that He trusts us to choose for ourselves and will guide us as we strive to hear the voice of the Spirit. In the same manner, we shouldn't be so concerned about not receiving an answer when we are doing all we can to receive one. The Lord knows how to reach us and will guide us as we do our best.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thanks for tuning in! I also plan on writing a weekly letter for the remainder of the mission, so don't be worried. It's simply tradition now, too late to stop.

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Ældste Jepsen

- Amalienborg to see the changing of the Queens' guards

- Christus in Vor Frue Kirke

- Breadsticks!

- Den Hej kage  (The “Hello” Cake)
- Me at the temple