Ether 4:6 - June 27, 2016

Say farewell to my district in Aalborg

6 For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord.

Everyone,

Big news for this week. We got transfer calls, and I am now on Amager with Elder Beck. This was a little unexpected because I thought that I would stay in Frederikshavn for another 6 weeks. I am back on Sjælland which is a little weird. I have spent the better part of today sitting on a packed train from Aalborg. We were blessed though to get several bikes and missionaries here safely.

Amager is a suburb of Copenhagen. On it's own island connected by a bridge.

Last week was lots of fun. Jesper is doing all right. He is having a really hard time right now which makes it difficult to help him progress. He has all sorts of questions on why the Bible doesn't talk about how we come from apes when science says that we do. We told him that the best way to find answers is if we ask God. He says that he will try it.

My new apartment in Amager

Lone is doing alright. Our lesson on Frelsesplanen went really well with her. She has started to read Mormons Bog again, and says that she is understanding more of it each time. Some things came up in coordination meeting that will complicate our meetings with her, so that was a little disappointing. She was in church on Sunday, so that was wonderful to see.

Burning the Witch on the longest day of the year. Skagen, Denmark

Ketty is still set on getting baptized. From the few times that we have taught her we have decided that she won't be ready for the date she planned on. It is through the Branch though and not us because she was once a member. We taught her visdomsordet. Her reaction to it was being really thoughtful. I don't know if she fully realized that she needs to stop smoking before she can get baptized. She was also in church on Sunday, but she left after Sacrament.

Michael is about the same. We tried to teach him, but he kept bringing up what the Methodists believe. We are going to put him on pause because he isn't progressing, and hasn't kept any commitments for the past several weeks.

We taught Mia and Thanus this week. It was the first time that Elder Olson met Thanus. We fully realize now that they aren't fully interested to do anything. It is their agency. We asked if they would come to church. Thanus said that he came 3 months ago. I told him that he had never come since I had come to Frederikshavn about 5 months ago. He couldn't believe it. I think that he does feel the spirit in church, and sees that it helps him in his week when he comes.

Fun T-shirts

New Danish Book: Treasure Island. One of Ben's favorites!

We did a review lesson with Henriette because she brought up several questions. Luckily we were able to answer all of them clearly. I could see that she wants to know that the gospel is true. Sunday night I called her to say goodbye, and she was a little sad. The Lord really does bless the work up in Frederikshavn. I am so glad that Elder Shuppy and I met her.

Lots of rain this week. The weather has cooled down again, so we had our jackets on for a few days. There is a song that we had on our music USB. It is called "In Like a Lion" by Reliant K. It talks about how it is always winter, but never Christmas. That feels like our lives right now. It seems to always be cold outside no matter what time of year.

Saturday was a special experience. There was a bar fight on the gågade. We didn't see it, but we happened to walk by at the end. There was a man lying unconscious on the cobble stones. He didn't look good at all. I had a huge impression there. In Mormons Bog we learn that the missionaries couldn't bear the thought of someone not knowing about Christ and the gospel. That is how I felt when I saw him. How would it be to walk into Åndeverdenen, and not understand it. This really put into perspective on why missionary work is important, and that we are out here for a purpose.

Elder Francis