Weeks 2 and 3 at the MTC

Week 2 - August 5, 2015

Everyone,

This week has brought a lot of trials and joy. Each day we learn so much, and sometimes we go to bed at night, and can't believe that another day has gone by. 

So many things have occurred that it is hard to write about all of them. Brother Casper our teacher left to Iceland, so we thought that we would only have 2 teachers for the next couple of weeks. On Thursday we taught Hans Eric, and we were able to commit him to baptism. Everyone was sad that he would be returning to Denmark, so we got a photo with him. On Friday afternoon he walked into class, and we found out that he is our teacher Brother Whitlock. We were all disappointed in ourselves that we didn't see it coming.

Last week I wrote about how some of the Elders in our district don't enjoy the food. That night they all ate cereal for dinner. You will understand when you look at last weeks letter.

I have been having a hard time adjusting to mission life. There were a couple things that haven't worked out very well. I was able to make it to Sunday, and all day little comments and answers came up in the talks and devotional that really helped me. It made me realize that the Lord is looking out for me even though sometimes I feel all alone.

On Saturday we had a lesson on how the danish people are different than Americans. We were told that certain things are only said to close friends, and if we are going to share our message than we must get to know them before we talk about the church. Brother Williamson said that when he was on his mission they would find a bus with a lot of people, and stay on it for a couple of hours talking to everyone around them. He also said that if you find someone walking a dog then talk to the dog first, and 90% of the time the owner will be open to the gospel. After the lesson we practiced trackting, and some conversational dansk. One companionship found out our investigator, Brother Williamson aka Ole, had a family, and then asked if his wife was joyful. He gave them an odd look, and then walked away. We all had a good laugh, and it taught us that we need to know what we are asking before we say it.

To answer a few questions I received...

We are all in one class on the fifth floor of 18M.

Sack breakfast is outside, and for those not in missionary attire. (we wear our sweats)

I see the Pickerels and Elder Gipson from a distance almost every day.

We teach all three of our teachers, and they have investigator names and stories.

Wednesday is my P-Day.

Yesterday we had the devotional with Elder Russell M Nelson. It was amazing.

I have received your letters from Philmont.

I miss all of you. Love,

AEldste Francis

PS Happy Birthday Emma!!!

PSS  Congratulations to Steph and Matt

Great friend from Seminary. He is going to Little Rock, Arkansas.

WEEK 3 - August 12, 2015

Hej,

So much has happened this week. There have been ups and downs, and everything in between.

This week we started TRC. This is were we teach members a short lesson, and practice teaching in Dansk. We were told that the person would be a member, and we should prepare a spiritual thought like in home teaching. We prepared to talk about prayer, and reviewed the necessary vocabulary. We were given the assigned room, and knocked on the door. The Sister opened the door, and gave us a blank look. Her first question was tell me about your church. We knew that our original plan would have to change, so we taught her about the Restoration. Since we hadn't prepared beforehand it was a great experience to practice teaching by the spirit.

As a district we made a goal to memorize the first vision as found in the pamphlet. (The Restoration one) As we were practicing our teacher made a comment which we all thought was really funny. The word for light pillar is lyssøjle. The word for lizard is lysøjle. He said that we need to pronounce both of the ss otherwise we would be saying a lizard descended on Joseph.

For CMS we asked about how to pronounce some of the Dansk vowels. Æ Ø Å Luckily we had Søster Paulson who is from Denmark to help us. During the lesson we learned four words. To Tå Tog Tåge Let me say that they all sound like two, but all mean different things. Two Toes Train Mist

We have learned so much this week about Denmark. On average there are 60 baptisms a year for country. Five years ago the majority were emigrants from all over the world. Now the majority are Danes who have lived there their whole lives. We are all excited to meet so many wonderful people. Yesterday Brother Williamson taught us about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He taught us that we will see miracles, and it won't be until we see them that our purpose will become clear. He told us of a lady that he baptized, and it was meaningful for us because all of it was in English.

The spirit is real. Kirken er sand. Gud og Jesus Kristus liver, og vil hjælpe os. Jeg elskede evagelium og min familie.

Tak,

Ældste Francis

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